Former NBC fixture Matt Lauer, who was fired by the network in November amid allegations of sexual harassment, is speaking out about the allegations.

Lauer provided a statement to The Washington Post in which he said: “Five months ago I was terminated by NBC after admitting to past relationships with co-workers. A day later I took responsibility, apologized to the people I had hurt and promised to begin the process of repairing the damage I had caused my family. I have worked every day since then to honor that promise.”

Lauer’s statement adds: “I have made no public comments on the many false stories from anonymous or biased sources that have been reported about me over these past several months. … I remained silent in an attempt to protect my family from further embarrassment and to restore a small degree of the privacy they have lost. But defending my family now requires me to speak up.”

The statement concludes: “I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC. However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false.”