Matt Lauer and his second wife, Annette Roquethey were months away from celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary when the TV presenter was hit by scandal.
In November 2017, Lauer’s contract as co-anchor of NBC today he was fired when he was accused of sexual misconduct. Lauer allegedly harassed a female employee when they covered the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014. (Lauer denied the allegation).
Lauer broke his silence months later stating that he had initially “remained silent” to “protect my family from further embarrassment and to restore some of the privacy they had lost,” although he now felt it was necessary to discuss “false stories from anonymous or biased sources.”
“Standing up for my family now requires me to speak,” Lauer said in a statement in April 2018. “I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and director at NBC. However, I want to make abundantly clear that any allegation or allegation of coercion, aggression or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false.”
Lauer retreated from the spotlight and has effectively been out of the news industry ever since. The scandal undoubtedly had an impact on her marriage to Roque and her relationship with their three children: son Jack, born in June 2001, daughter Romy, born in October 2003, and son Thijs, born in November 2006.
The #MeToo scandal wasn’t actually the first time Lauer’s marriage faced scrutiny. Keep scrolling for a timeline of the relationship.
Matt Lauer’s first marriage lasted 7 years
Matt Lauer was working at Providence, Rhode Island, local station WJAR-TV when he married the producer. Nancy Alspaugh in 1982. They were together for seven years but had no children.
Alspaugh spoke out in defense of Lauer when he was fired by NBC in 2017. She said Entertainment tonight at the time she supported her ex-husband “100 percent.” He also confirmed that he had notified Lauer weeks in advance that investigative reporters were looking into his past.
“I called him to let him know that a reporter had shown up at my door and was saying some things were going to come out,” Alspaugh said. “And when I called him, he thanked me for the call and I got the reporter’s contact and he said, of course, that nothing was true.”
Per Alspaugh, Lauer promised that “everything (the reporters) would come out with was fabricated.”
“(The phone call) was really about this reporter being in my path,” Alspaugh added. “I think he was blindsided by it all, but like I said, what I want to get out is the side of him that I know and a lot of other people know about him, which is the charming, want to help you in any way that he was.”
Alspaugh described Lauer as “a stand-up guy” as well as a “very generous and lovely person” before suggesting that “some of the things that are being claimed (about him) may not be true.”
“We have to find out, you know? As time goes on here, people should be aware that there’s a family involved here,” Alspaugh argued. “There are three kids and that’s, I think it’s important to be aware that this can destroy a family. To report the allegations before they know if they’re real or not.”
Matt Lauer met Annette Roque on a blind date
Matt Lauer and Annette Roque met on a blind date in the summer of 1997.
Lauer first publicly mentioned she was dating Roque during a 1998 appearance on CNN. Larry King live. He told the host Larry King that he was “single but extremely engaged and spoken for.” The TV presenter revealed that she was dating someone “not in the media”.
Although Lauer chose not to identify his girlfriend at the time, he said, “It’s great. It’s been about eight months.”
The today The host even hinted that wedding bells were potentially on the horizon.
“(It was written somewhere, that Matt is afraid of commitment. That’s not true at all,” she insisted. “I think it’s going to be something that we’re going to look at one day and say boom, and it’s going to happen quickly. I really do.”
Matt Lauer and Annette Roque were married in 1998
For The Chicago TribuneMatt Lauer married Annette Roque at a Presbyterian Church in Bridgehampton, New York in October 1998.
Lauer’s best men were his own today predecessor Bryant Gumbel and his close friend John Horan. Its current back then today colleagues Katie Couric i Al Roker both attended the ceremony.
Matt Lauer and Annette Roque welcomed their first child in 2001
The Lauers welcomed their first child, son Jack Matthew, on June 26, 2001, in New York. Matt Lauer was 43 when Jack was born.
Matt admitted Good cleaning in 2007 that he put parenthood on the back burner for years to focus on his career.
Matt Lauer and Annette Lauer in November 2012.
Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images“I was one of those people, especially early in my career, who overbalanced the equation in favor of my work — I spent most of my life focusing on that,” he said. “Becoming a parent gave me perspective; it brought balance to my life.”
Matt Lauer and Annette Roque welcomed their second child in 2003
NBC News confirmed it people that Matt Lauer and Annette Roque welcomed their second child, daughter Romy, on October 3, 2003. Lauer took a hiatus from today on paternity leave and was temporarily replaced by Lester Holt.
Annette Roque filed for divorce while pregnant with the couple’s third child
Annette Roque sent shock waves through the media landscape in September 2006 when she filed for divorce from Matt Lauer. At the time, Roque was seven months pregnant.
Multiple media outlets reported that Roque accused Lauer of “mental abuse, extreme mental and emotional distress, humiliation, torment and anxiety” in court documents. However, Lauer and Roque reconciled weeks later and the divorce was put on hold.
Their youngest son, Thijs, was born in November 2006.
“The baby was born this morning at 9:37 a.m. in New York City. He weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces,” Lauer’s spokesperson said. people on November 28, 2006. “Mom, dad and baby are all doing well.”
Matt Lauer is “planning a comeback” years after being fired from NBC amid allegations of sexual misconduct. “He’s started talking to people,” a source tells Us Weekly exclusively of the morning show host. “He’s planning his next act, still very upset with how he was portrayed and still feels like he’s the (…)
In 2008, Lauer downplayed the seriousness of their brief split during an interview with people.
“Every once in a while I read quotes from so-called experts, and it’s never true,” he said. “We grin and bear it, and the next thing you know, it’s someone else’s turn. Annette and I are great.”
Annette Roque and Matt Lauer denied splitting again in 2010
The Lauers both made statements in May 2010 to deny a National Enquirer cover that claimed they were living apart amid a marital crisis.
“I live in my apartment with Annette and my kids as a family and as a couple,” Lauer insisted. “I’ve never moved. I’m not leaving. There’s no truth to that.”
Matt Lauer dismissed allegations he had an affair as “ridiculous” and “offensive.”
“Did we have a completely perfect and easy marriage? No. But the stories you’ve read over the years aren’t true,” she insisted.
said Annette Roque people at the time she and Lauer had “worked through” rough patches in their marriage.
Matt Lauer publicly apologized to his family amid a misconduct scandal
Matt Lauer was fired by NBC on allegations of sexual misconduct. He issued a statement to deny any “coercive, aggressive or abusive actions”, although he publicly apologized to his family for other past conduct.
“There are no words to express my pain and sorrow for the pain I have caused others through words and actions,” he said. Us Weekly in a November 2017 statement. “To the people I’ve hurt, I’m so sorry. As I write this, I realize the depth of the hurt and disappointment I’ve left behind at home and at NBC.”
He continued: “Some of what is being said about me is false or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by people I love very much.”
Matt Lauer and Annette Roque broke up after their public scandal
Matt Lauer and Annette Roque quietly split in the wake of their misconduct scandal at NBC. They settled their divorce almost two years later.
Us Weekly informed in July 2019, Roque received a lump sum of around $25 million and ownership of a horse farm in the Hamptons. Lauer kept the lands they owned in New Zealand.
Despite the controversy surrounding Lauer, we learned that he and Roque were in a “very kind place” as they moved forward with raising their three children. (At that time, Jack was already 18, but brothers Romy and Thijs were 15 and 12, respectively.)