Linda Vester: 5 Things To Know About Legendary Newsman Tom Brokaw’s Accuser

Former news anchor Linda Vester came forward on Thursday to detail allegations of sexual harassment from Tom Brokaw. Here’s everything to need to know about her.

Tom Brokaw, once considered of the new recognizable news anchors in America, came under fire on Thursday, April 26, when allegations surfaced of inappropriate behavior on the part of the journalist. They arrived from an anonymous woman who worked with him at NBC in ’90s, as well as Linda Vester, another reporter. In light of these allegations, let’s get to know Vester a little better.

1) Linda is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. But she quickly made her way to the East Coast and beyond. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University. She also received an honors diploma from the Sorbonne in France after spending a semester studying there. Next came a Fulbright scholarship to study Arabic and Middle East Affairs at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

2) Her career began as a researcher at NBC’s New York City office. She soon became a field producer. Next, she was sent to Tampa, Florida to be groomed for on-air experience. However, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait she was reassigned.

3) Being fluent in Arabic, she was selected to cover the Gulf War. She was sent to Saudi Arabia to report on the conflict for NBC’s affiliate stations.

4) She alleges Brokaw groped her in an NBC conference room in 1994. After returning to the U.S. to work, she became a full-time correspondent at the network. That’s when she was sent to Denver to cover Pope John Paul‘s visit. “We were in the Denver bureau, and there was a conference room,” she told Variety. “I’m standing there, and Tom Brokaw enters through the door and grabs me from behind and proceeds to tickle me up and down my waist. I jumped a foot and I looked at a guy who was the senior editor of “Nightly,” and his jaw was hanging open. Nobody acted like anything wrong was happening, but I was humiliated.”

5) She also alleges that on 2 instances he attempted to kiss her. Both times she stopped him. “He grabbed me behind my neck and tried to force me to kiss him. I was shocked to feel the amount of force and his full strength on me. I could smell alcohol on his breath, but he was totally sober. He spoke clearly. He was in control of his faculties,” she said. “I broke away and stood up and said, ‘Tom, I do not want to do this with you. If I did, I would leave for London with a loss of innocence and I don’t want to go down that road.’ I had just been promoted to foreign correspondent in the London bureau.” Brokaw has denied Vester’s allegations.

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