A year-and-a-half after NBC fired Matt Lauer from The Today Show for sexual misconduct in the workplace, he and his wife Annette Roque have finally reached a divorce settlement. Now, the couple is reportedly waiting for a judge to finalize it in either Suffolk County or Manhattan, and a new report claims that Lauer is buying Roque’s silence by giving her their $44 million Hamptons estate.
An insider claims that Roque has Lauer “up against a wall,” and he has told his legal team to give her whatever she wants. But, the 61-year-old isn’t doing this to be generous or out of guilt or remorse, he’s doing this because he is afraid that Roque will speak publicly about their troubled marriage.
$25M a year, sexual misconduct, distracting his family and living high, and we should feel bad for the fraud??? Disgraced Former ‘Today’ Show Host Matt Lauer 'Devastated' After Selling $44 Million Mansion https://t.co/A2n6o1byLR
— Squatter911 (@Squatter9112) July 4, 2019
“Matt wants her to sign a nondisclosure so tight she won’t even be able to speak his name publicly,” a source told Radar Online. “Her silence is worth more to him than any houses or money. Matt wants absolute secrecy.”
When Today Show fans woke up on November 29, 2017, they watched as Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb announced the shocking news that NBC had fired Lauer after an employee made a sexual assault complaint against him regarding an incident at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The network terminated Lauer’s $25 million a year contract, and soon after Roque filed for divorce after nearly 20 years of marriage.
It didn’t take long for other women to come forward and accuse Lauer of sexual assault – with some alleged incidents dating as far back as 2001.
A judge has not yet been assigned to Lauer and Roque’s divorce case, but insiders say that in addition to the Hamptons estate, Roque will also receive $20 million in assets. It isn’t clear if Lauer will keep Strongheart Manor, the home that Lauer purchased from actor Richard Gere in 2016 for $36.5 million.
The estranged couple will reportedly share custody of their three children.
The Hamptons just can't quit Matt Lauer https://t.co/XHyICTGt5n
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 1, 2019
Lauer has laid low since losing his job, which has been a huge change for the man who charmed Today Show viewers every morning for more than two decades. Rumors swirled that he would be returning to television after landing a gig at CNN, which his former NBC boss Jeff Zucker now runs. But, Zucker shot down those rumors, telling staff, “There is absolutely no truth at all in the reports that Matt is coming to CNN.”
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An insider says that Matt Lauer believes he was the reason the Today Show was number one for so long, and he “feels the way he’s being treated is disgusting.”
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