One of the funniest and saddest postscripts to the Matt Lauer debacle is that the Post-Lauer Today Show has actually improved their ratings. NBC bent over backwards to accommodate Lauer and his predatory behavior for decades because they believed Lauer was the cornerstone of their morning programming, that viewers were tuning in just to see his smug doucheface, that viewers would NOT tune in if Lauer left. That was the hold Lauer had on his NBC bosses, that was the reason why his contract kept being renewed, why he was allowed to orchestrate Ann Curry’s dismissal, why he was given carte blanche to harass and assault his coworkers. And after all of those years, they fired him and… the Today Show was fine. The network was fine. Their ratings improved without him. Isn’t that pathetic to think about?
Anyway, it’s looking like Lauer’s wife is also coming around to the realization that she’ll be much better off without him.
While disgraced “Today” anchor Matt Lauer battles to save his 20-year marriage to Dutch former model Annette Roque, she has been meeting with lawyers about squeezing a bigger settlement out of him if they proceed to a divorce. A grim-faced Roque was seen Wednesday heading into the office of law firm Latham & Watkins in Manhattan.
Lauer was fired in November by NBC bosses for “inappropriate sexual behavior.” And this week former “Today” staffer Addie Zinone revealed her relationship with Lauer that took place in 2000, when she was a 24-year-old production assistant, saying the affair was consensual, but also an “abuse of power.”
Roque had previously filed for divorce from Lauer in 2006, citing “mental abuse, extreme mental and emotional distress, humiliation, torment, and anxiety,” but withdrew the filing weeks later after he offered her a post-nuptial agreement and millions more dollars, a source told Page Six. The source explained, “The post-nup will likely specify how much Annette would get if they divorce, but she is expected to challenge it given Matt’s earnings since 2006, and given how he has humiliated her. There are also issues over all the property and land they own, both in the Hamptons and abroad.” Lauer was being paid $25 million a year by NBC under a contract he signed in 2016.
The couple have three children, a 16-year-old son, a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son.
I know this probably won’t happen, but I hope Annette takes him for EVERYTHING. I hope she gets all of their homes, all of his money, all of their art, all of the horses, all of it. I hope she gets full custody of the kids. I hope she takes all of that money and goes home to the Netherlands and just gets wine-drunk all day. All of it was hazard pay for having to be married to such a douchebag. Merry Christmas, a–hole.
Photos courtesy of WENN and Backgrid.
I hope she makes out better than even Tiger Woods ex-wife.
Me too but at least Woods women were all willing participants and not forced.
Accurate, but only slightly less bad from a spouse’s perspective.
GET IT ALL
One thing that infuriated me regarding his departure and this news that ratings have greatly improved in his absence is the speculation about the MEN being considered to replace him. WHY???? The ladies seem to be doing just fine without a male co-host and maybe that’s the secret sauce to their success.
As for Annette, I hope her lawyers get her everything she wants, which will probably be hefty alimony, the Hamptons house, the horses and primary custody of the children along with substantial child support.
Yes to all of this!
I agree, they should consider replacing him with a woman. Why not?
I hope she has a GREAT lawyer, and I hope Matt’s scared and gives her whatever she wants.
I’m waiting for the day when people won’t stop to wonder which gender to replace him with and just go with the best person for the job. I’ll be dead before, I know, but I like this idea for all things.
I’m not a big morning show person, but didn’t GMA have Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts for a while?
This x1000
Didn’t they rely on studies that say the am shows are watched by women? If so why do you need a man?
That headline makes me picture Grumpy Cat memes. But seriously, I hope she takes it all.
Hope it was worth it, Matt!😆
Yeah, but she knew. The ratings is still problematic for me because his co-workers also knew.
Then again, It’s only recently that the temperature is shifting and people knowing things AND speaking up is accepted and something is done about it. Knowing things before was not like knowing them now. That’s sadly a total fact but at least its improving…
I hope she gets it all up front rather than monthly alimony payments. Something tells me he won’t be gainfully employed anytime soon. Or ever.
I just don’t understand why she withdrew her divorce petition in 2006. She had a chance to be free of him but agreed to be bought off.
As to why NBC feels the need to search for a male replacement: Because the decision makers are stupid men. Duh.
Sometimes you stay so you don’t have to split custody and you can fully protect your children.
If they have an 11-year old was he even born in 2006? Maybe she stayed because she was pregnant? Most likely she thought she made the best choice for the kids at the time. But it could be a financial decision too of course, if he could convince her to stay in the marriage with a post-nup then she probably didn’t have a very beneficial pre-nup and that’s why she ultimately decided to stay married.
I seem to recall she was heavily pregnant when she filed so yeah maybe she stayed for the sake of the kids.
F@ck NBC. I’m not happy the ratings are up. They enabled Lauer for decades. I wish people would stop watching them full stop.
The last line of this article is B to the S. She didn’t HAVE to be married to him. She chose to marry him and she chose to stay married to him. I’m in no way saying she’s complicit in his crimes, and in no way am I ruling out the possibility that he was emotionally abusive to her. I don’t want to blame her for his behavior, but I also don’t see her as a poor waif with no agency.
yep.
This.
Yeah, plenty of women walk away even if they’re pregnant, like Denise Richards for example. And its faaaaar easier for a woman to walk away from a father you know will financially provide for everything.
He’d probably made a huge case by saying kids need a dad, sweet talking, money etc…all that crap. Divorce for kids is so much better than kids being stuck with miserable parents and, in many cases, dads even see their kids more since there are scheduled visits and less taking it for granted.
Years wasted on staying with a slimeball is far scarier for me than being “alone”…
CBS’s ratings are stable without Charlie Rose too. And that’s what really ticks me off. I hear smug white men tell me all the time that they just want everyone judged on their individual merits, while refusing to acknowledge that the white men in power are giving extra merit points to other white men just because they’re sure that the white men deserve it more. And the Matt Lauer situation is a perfect example of this: the men in power were sure that Lauer’s contributions to the show were more vital than the women’s contributions because they had to be – he was the man. So they would claim that they were judging him on the merits and that’s why the paid him so much when, in fact, they were being sexist pigs. It reminds me a bit of the email that came out in the Sony hack from an executive claiming that Denzel couldn’t be in an international movie because foreign audiences don’t like black people. But he had no objective, “merit-based” reason to believe that – just his own internal biases. In fact, Chadwick Boseman (can’t wait for Black Panther!) is currently the most popular actor in China. Ugh, sorry for this rant but I’m so sick of seeing mediocre white man being lauded as the most amazing creatures in all the world!
Amen
Agreed. I am living this reality in my workplace right now. It is entirely illogical and baseless…disprovable, even.
They say living well is the best revenge, her lawyers should go full out!
She is wealthy already but I hope her lawyers take him for every single cent and she gets full custody. Lying, cheating, betraying and humiliating his family…what a miserable turd he is and has been for most of their marriage.
Actually, I hope that what Annette gets is peace. These people have more money that they’ll every need. What’s the point in tying herself to to him for another moment in legal acrimony?
Bu-bye.
Since Lauer is Jewish, I think wishing him a snarky, Merry Christmas is a bit absurd.
While Lauer is a scum bag, I don’t have a higher opinion of her for trading her dignity in for a few million dollar “I will stay with you for appearances” payoff years ago.
She’s not much better. For years and years it was said they are estranged. She knew exactly what he did and was doing. They had an arrangement where she kept her lifestyle and stayed married to him. That helped his image. As long as he kept making money she was fine with it. Knew everything.
It wasn’t even an open secret. It was common knowledge. It got more coverage when Curry was fired and Matt was getting bad press. Along with that alleged affair with the other cohost. Now I guess their whole marriage is being framed in a new way to help her get his money and not be seen as someone that knew. Knew and preferred money for silence.
Agree totally. Now that the eight figure annual salary days are over for Matt, it’s time for Annette to cash out. Its all very predictable.
I feel similar about Georgina Chapman.
I can’t stand Matt Lauer but come on. The assistant was a legal adult who admitted it was CONSENTUAL. She waited 17 years to say anything, and wtf does “abuse of power” even mean? You can twist that around to mean anything.
So Matt basically just cheated on his wife. He’s an asshole but I don’t believe he deserves any of this humiliation. That should have just been a matter worked out privately
I’m assuming you missed this story: http://www.celebitchy.com/558540/matt_lauer_sexually_assaulted_a_woman_to_the_point_where_she_lost_consciousness/
I strongly object to the phrase “just” cheated on his wife.
Matt Lauer is a dirtbag and miserable excuse for an adult human being who not only broke his marriage vows by committing adultery he ALSO used his position and power at his workplace to control, abuse, intimidate, assault and threatened women who were earning their living at said place of employment.
Employment = complete the duties listed for a paid amount of money.
Employment does NOT mean “anything damn thing these dirtbags thinks they can get away with during business hours.”
If she doesn’t leave this time she is truly a sad person. You deserve better, girl.
Matt Lauer is not Jewish. His father is of Jewish decent. His mother isn’t. So wishing him a “snarky” merry Christmas is perfect 😆
Wishing her well, but what is up with the dress she’s wearing? It looks like a fancy silk paper bag. How odd.