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Seven years after being fired from the Today show in the wake of sexual harassment allegations, Matt Lauer is finally talking to old friends again.
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According to people.com, Lauer has settled into a quiet life in the Hamptons and reconnected with his three children and ex-wife, Annette Roque, who filed for divorce in July 2019. And he’s bringing old friends back into his circle.
“There was a time there where he wasn’t really talking to anybody,”an unnamed friend of Lauer told people.com. “He wasn’t really talking to any of his old friends. Over the past year, he’s been reconnecting with friends and texting them and talking on the phone.
“He’s actually doing well and happy. He doesn’t work, and he doesn’t have to. He’s not looking to. He was a journalist at heart, and he did some impactful political interviews that spanned his career, but the current cycle of politics isn’t anything even people who have been doing it for a long time are really excited to cover.”
Lauer, 66, has been spending time with his kids and girlfriend Shamin Abas, according to a People source, and they’ve been splitting time living in the Hamptons and New Zealand.
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“He and Shamin have had a nice life in the Hamptons,” the source said. “Each has separate interests, and they do a lot of things together. They are a happy couple.”
Lauer’s fall from grace came in November 2017 when he was fired as host of the Today show after two decades in the role. Allegations of sexual misconduct were reported.
A former network employee, later named as Brooke Nevils, alleged that Lauer had sexually harassed her. Other women then came forward with the same complaint, while Lauer denied the claims.
After the firing, Lauer laid low for two years before being photographed in public having breakfast in the Hamptons in 2019.