To clarify that headline, in case anyone was wondering at all, Chris Matthews was not the one being sexually harassed.
A former MSNBC employee who accused host Chris Matthews of sexual harassment in 1999 was given a separation payment by the network, according to a Daily Caller report.
Two sources told the Caller that a woman who was then an assistant producer on Matthews' show "Hardball" accused the longtime MSNBC host of making inappropriate sexual comments about her while in the company of others. The sources say the company settled with the woman for $40,000.
NBC argued about the amount of the payoff, but not that Matthews was reprimanded.
By now there have been a whole lot of these accusations. And no one particularly bothers sorting them. Or distinguishing between acts of assault and sexual harassment, which in this case sounds reasonably clear cut. But the media has purged more important figures than Matthews over similar accusations. But that was 1999. And also, more importantly, the #MeToo movement wasn't dominating headlines. Forget 1999. NBC would probably have done the same thing a year ago.
An accusation is just... an accusation. And the rapid purges of the accused, without enough time for there to be an investigation, has been a major #MeToo problem. But in this case it sounds like there may have been an investigation.
Just don't expect Chris Matthews, the luckiest man in the media, to suffer the consequences. Or any consequences. Like Joe Scarborough, Matthews has his job for the usual inexplicable reason that can be put down to 'contacts'. And that means talented people who actually do something and bring in money will be fired long before NBC's version of a white Al Sharpton who specializes in rambling nonsense.