Matt Lauer Rape Accusation: Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb React

UPDATE: 12:25pm 10/9

Ann Curry -- who co-hosted "Today" with Matt Lauer from 2011 to 2012 -- posted a tweet in support of Lauer's rape accuser. "Brooke Nevils is a credible young woman of good character. She came to NBC News an eager and guileless 20-something, brimming with talent. I believe she is telling the truth. And that breaks my heart," she wrote. Curry was let go after 15 years on the morning show. NBC has maintained the decision was based on ratings, while some insiders believed Lauer played a part in her dismissal, according to Time.

Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb addressed the new allegations of rape against former "Today" co-worker Matt Lauer on Wednesday's show.

"I feel like we owe it to our viewers to pause for a moment. You know, this is shocking and appalling and I honestly don't even know what to say about it," Guthrie, said during the show's broadcast. "I know it wasn't easy for our colleague Brooke [Nevils] to come forward then, it's not easy now, and we support her and any women who have come forward with claims. It's just very painful for all of us at NBC and at the Today show. It's very, very, very difficult."

The response comes hours after Variety reported late Tuesday night that Ronan Farrow's upcoming book "Catch and Kill" reveals new information about Nevils initial claim that got Lauer fired from "Today" in November 2017. Nevils -- who had yet to speak publicly about the allegations -- claims Lauer anally raped her in his hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

"You feel like you've known someone for 12 years and then all of a sudden, a door opens up and it's a part of them you didn't know,” Kotb added during the broadcast. "We don't know all the facts in all of this, but they're not allegations of an affair; they're allegations of a crime. I think that's shocking to all of us here who've sat with Matt for many, many years. So, I think we're gonna just continue to process this part of this horrific story. And, as [Savannah] said, our thoughts are with Brooke. It's not easy what she did to come forward."

"I think I speak for all of us: We're disturbed to our core. And we have a commitment to keep you informed and we'll continue to do that," said Guthrie.

In the book, Nevils claims, "It was nonconsensual in the sense that I was too drunk to consent. It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn't want to have anal sex."

Matt Lauer gave a lengthy response to Variety, where he categorically denied claims of nonconsensual sex. "I have never assaulted anyone or forced anyone to have sex. Period," he wrote.

However, he did admit to having an affair with his accuser, which he insists was consensual: "I had an extramarital affair with Brooke Nevils in 2014. It began when she came to my hotel room very late one night in Sochi, Russia. We engaged in a variety of sexual acts. We performed oral sex on each other, we had vaginal sex, and we had anal sex. Each act was mutual and completely consensual."

At the time of his firing two years ago, Lauer said in a statement, "Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed."

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