Matthew Todd Lauer(Matt Lauer), born on December 30, 1957, is a former television news anchor from the United States who is most remembered for his work with NBC News. His first major national exposure came while working as the news anchor for The Today Show from 1994 to 1997, following his work as a local news personality for WNBC in New York City. From 1997 until 2017, he co-hosted the NBC Today show after switching from the news desk to the host’s chair. He also frequently contributed to Dateline NBC, an evening news magazine. Lauer co-hosted the opening ceremonies of numerous Olympic Games and served as host of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with NBC.
After receiving “a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace”, NBC terminated Matt Lauer’s contract in November 2017 due to allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. The network also stated that it had “reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident”. Scroll down for the information regarding Matt Lauer.
Matt Lauer: Early Life
Lauer was born in New York City, the son of businesswoman Marilyn Lauer and CEO of a bicycle manufacturer, Jay Robert Lauer. Lauer’s father was of Romanian Jewish ancestry. Lauer stated, “My dad was Jewish. My mom is not. So I was not raised anything. I do feel a desire now to find something spiritual. Getting married and wanting to have kids has something to do with that.”
Education and Career of Matt Lauer
At the age of 39, in 1997, Lauer graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree after attending the school’s Scripps College of Communication, School of Media Arts and Studies. When he was hired as a producer of the midday broadcast for WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia, in the spring of 1979, he earlier left the same college to start his television career. He started working as an on-air reporter for the station’s newscasts at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. by 1980.
After that, he began touring the East Coast while anchoring a variety of news and conversation shows each day.
He co-hosted PM Magazine in a number of places, first in Richmond (1980–1981), then in Providence (1981–1984), and last in New York City(1984–1986). Following WNYW’s 1986 decision to discontinue the New York edition of PM Magazine, Lauer and co-host Jill Rappaport created the fifteen-week-long program Made in New York. Lauer then received his first exposure to national television when he collaborated with Robin Leach to co-host the ABC daytime drama Fame, Fortune, and Romance, a spinoff of the syndicated Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Between 1987 and 1989, Lauer spent two years anchoring local television shows in Philadelphia and Boston. During that time, he also reported for ESPN and hosted entertainment news pieces for HBO.
Back in New York City in September 1989, Lauer anchored 9 Broadcast Plaza, a three-hour live interview program, for WWOR-TV.
He left the show because, according to what he recounted, it started booking “tabloid” guests and issues and because it wouldn’t live-read Dial-a-Mattress commercials. Richard Bey took over for Lauer on WWOR-TV, and 9 Broadcast Plaza subsequently changed its name to The Richard Bey Show.
He was employed by the Kushner-Locke Company in 1990 to host a pilot episode of Day in Court, which was executive-produced by seasoned producer David Sams, who was a key player in the national syndication debut of The Oprah Winfrey Show. When it moved to series, the show’s name was changed to Trial Watch, and it aired for two seasons on the NBC network. When the show was chosen to be a daily series on NBC, Robb Weller was chosen as the host instead of Lauer.
He shot the WBF BodyStars pilot that same year, though WWF owner and chairman Vince McMahon ultimately chose to host the show himself. WBF BodyStars is a bodybuilding-focused spinoff of the World Wrestling Federation.
With Willow Bay, Lauer served as co-host of the Travel Channel program Etc., Etc. in 1991.
NBC News Career
As co-anchor of the early weekday news program Today in New York on the network’s New York flagship station WNBC, Lauer joined NBC in 1992. After a year, he also took over Sue Simmons’ position as co-anchor of Live at Five, eventually assuming the position permanently and giving up the morning shift by 1994. Maurice DuBois took over his spot on Today in New York after him. Up until 1996, Lauer continued to host Live at Five.
With NBC News, Lauer would soon have a lot of possibilities thanks to his appearances on camera.
From 1992 through 1993, Lauer occasionally stood in for Margaret Larson as the newsreader on The Today Show.
While continuing to co-host Today in New York and Live at Five during this “audition” phase, he was able to join The Today Show as a news anchor on a full-time basis in January 1994.
From 1992 until 1997, Lauer filled in for Ann Curry as the anchor of the NBC News program NBC News at Sunrise and for Scott Simon, Mike Schneider, and Jack Ford as the co-host of Weekend Today.
On NBC Nightly News, he had also stood in for Tom Brokaw. Before being made the formal co-host on January 6, 1997, after Bryant Gumbel stepped down, he previously filled in for Gumbel as the Today Show’s news anchor. In addition to his responsibilities on The Today Show, Lauer also hosted shows on MSNBC and Discovery Channel.
Where in the World is Matt Lauer? was a five-day, global journey that Lauer undertook from 1998 through 2011 on the Today Show during television sweeps.
The theme song for the segment was taken from the PBS game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Lauer was taken on an international tour for this program, where he reported on the significance of each destination. Bhutan, Easter Island, the Panama Canal, Iran, Hong Kong, Croatia, and the Great Wall of China were among the places he aired from. The segment was delayed by NBC News in 2011 because of the weak and fragile US economy.
Lauer conducted interviews on a few occasions that resulted in tense arguments. Tom Cruise and Matt Lauer clashed about psychiatry and postpartum depression during their interview in June 2005, when Cruise referred to Lauer as “glib”. In December 2008, Cruise expressed contrition over the conversation.
Lauer working on the Today Show set in May 2009
He spoke with Prince William and Prince Harry on June 19, 2007.
He co-hosted NBC’s live coverage of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1998 to 2017.
In keeping with what his former co-host Katie Couric had done since the 2000 Summer Olympics, Lauer co-hosted the opening ceremonies of numerous Olympic Games. 2008 Summer Olympics, 2010 Winter Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympics, and 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies were co-hosted by him. Along with co-hosts Meredith Vieira and Bob Costas, his comments on the opening ceremonies for 2012 drew harsh criticism for being “ignorant” and “banal”.
Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, and Lauer in February 2017
Lauer revealed that he had extended his contract with NBC News through 2017 during the program on April 5, 2012. The contract reportedly earned Lauer $25 million a year, according to Forbes.
According to numerous reports, Lauer was involved in “Operation Bambi,” which executive producer Jim Bell used to remove co-anchor Ann Curry from The Today Show.
Lauer took over as the prime-time host of the 2014 Winter Olympics from February 11–14 when Bob Costas contracted a serious eye infection.
Charlie Sheen spoke with Matt Lauer during an interview in November 2015, during which Sheen disclosed that he was HIV-positive.
Both of Lauer’s 30-minute interviews with presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on September 8, 2016, drew harsh criticism. Critics claim that Lauer appeared to rush through audience-driven themes like domestic terrorism attacks and veterans’ affairs, hinting that there was not enough time to fully discuss these. Lauer devoted a large portion of the Clinton interview to queries regarding her email server. Many believed that Lauer should have pressed Trump on his purported errors, such as his claim that he was “completely opposed to the war in Iraq,” which was referred to as “lies” by other sources. According to CNN, a significant factor in the unfavorable assessments was the brief window of opportunity for the interviews, the short notice with which they were performed, and the tiny number of audience questions.
On November 30, 2016, it was made public that Lauer had extended his deal through 2018. His annual pay was $20 million.
Taking a look back at some of his most memorable appearances on the show, Lauer commemorated his 20th anniversary on The Today Show on January 6, 2017.
What’s Matt Lauer’s Relationship Status?
The celebrity is currently dating Shamin Abas. Prior to beginning their decade-long relationship, the two were already acquainted. Matt and Shamin have known one other for many years; she and he both spend a lot of time in the Hamptons. They just started dating recently. She is a wonderful woman.
That Matt’s new girlfriend, Shamin, looks just like his ex-wife, Annette, is beyond our wildest imaginations. It’s tempting to assume they’re related, but I’m here to shatter your bubble and tell you that they are not. Like a film full of suspense, Abas’s connection with Roque hasn’t been resolved.
According to reports, the couple can’t wait to tie the knot. He has been discussing having a large wedding in the Hamptons, the person added. Who will be there to celebrate the union of the couple? Is Annette going to make it? These are questions that can only be answered by the passage of time.
Like everyone else, Matt has experienced ups and downs, but he has since moved on. Matt and Shamin’s upcoming nuptials are highly anticipated, and we can’t wait to hear more.
Matt Lauer: Accused of Raping NBC Colleague
An unnamed female NBC employee claimed that Lauer had sexually harassed her during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia and that the behavior persisted after the pair returned to New York. On November 29, 2017, NBC News confirmed that Lauer’s employment had been terminated. NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack recently communicated with his team via a memorandum that included the following excerpt: “A coworker of Matt Lauer’s filed a lengthy complaint with us on Monday night, alleging that he had engaged in sexually improper behavior while at work. Although this is the first time he has had a formal complaint about his behavior in his over 20 years at NBC News, we were given information suggesting that this may not be an isolated incident.” A network executive claimed Lauer will not receive any type of monetary settlement because he was sacked “for reason”. His original contract term was set to expire in 2018.
NBC News’s upper echelons claim they were aware of the investigations into Lauer’s conduct by The New York Times and Variety, but they were not aware of any prior claims against the host.
Later reports refuted this; Linda Vester, a former NBC News correspondent, said that management had to have known and that “everyone knew” that Lauer was dangerous. According to multiple sources cited by Ronan Farrow in his 2019 book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, NBC News was aware of Lauer’s misconduct prior to the incident, and Harvey Weinstein used this knowledge to pressure the program into killing a story that would have outed his own sexual assaults. At least ten of Lauer’s current and past coworkers have come forward with complaints, according to Variety. In the days that followed, more allegations surfaced. From 2000-2007, NBC recognized a further three cases.
Farrow names Brooke Nevils, who claims Lauer anally raped her in his hotel room while the two were in Sochi covering the 2014 Winter Olympics for NBC, as one of the claimed victims in Catch and Kill. According to Farrow’s book, Nevils had more sexual contact with Lauer after the initial event, but she described them as “transactional” and consented only because she feared for her career if she didn’t.
After being fired, Lauer released a statement in which he expressed regret and said, “There is enough truth in these claims to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed”.
Lauer released an open letter after Nevils’ sexual assault claim was revealed in Farrow’s book, in which he admitted to having a sexual connection with Nevils that began in Sochi in 2014 but denied that the encounter had been non-consensual.
Former Today production assistant Addie Zinone brought a new allegation against Lauer two weeks after he was fired, stating that she and Lauer had a mutually consenting sexual encounter in June of 2000. Given that Zinone stated that rejecting Lauer’s approaches would have been detrimental to her career, she characterized the relationship as an “abuse of power” on Lauer’s part.
Today show booker Melissa Lonner accused Lauer of exposing himself to her in 2010 at an NBC party, as reported by Farrow. Through his lawyer, he has denied the allegations and stated that he has no intention of joining the “commercial circus” surrounding the book in question.
At a New York Friars Club roast in 2008, several of Matt Lauer’s coworkers made jokes about his rumored romantic involvement with his crew.
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