Matt Lauer has remained largely silent since he was ousted from NBC News — but now he’s pondering a return to media, friends told Page Six.
“He thinks that he should be able to have a comeback,” one source said, while Lauer’s friends are said to be pushing him to make a move like Megyn Kelly and put himself back in the games on his “own terms.”
Lauer, 65, was fired from his longtime job as “Today” show co-anchor in November 2017 due to a complaint of “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.”
Former NBC employee Brooke Nevils alleged he raped her in her hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, an encounter Lauer has insisted was consensual. He is also believed to have had a fling with another former NBC star, although he has denied any wrongdoing.
Sources say Lauer has been focused on spending time with his children and his girlfriend, public relations and marketing guru Shamin Abas, 53, with whom he was recently spotted in NYC.
“Shamin has absolutely no issues with any of the scandals, it doesn’t seem to faze her,” the Lauer source said.
The once-popular anchor has lost contact with most of his powerful old friends in the media and rarely speaks to anyone on “Today,” Page Six is told.
“He’s still pretty upset about how he was ousted at NBC and upset at all the people he thought were his friends who turned their backs on him,” an insider said. “He knows he made mistakes, and he is a lot more humble.”
Although Lauer has “got some confidence back,” the insider added, he realizes his road back to the media industry would be tricky.
“He understands that there might not be any sort of appetite for [a comeback],” said the insider. “In other words, he wants to see if there would be any chance — but he understands fully that there might be zero chance. He’s not unrealistic.”
In fact, said a media source, “He has had a couple of opportunities put to him. But then something always happens, like Katie Couric’s book comes out, and the opportunities go away.”
The release of “Going There,” his former “Today” co-host Couric’s memoir, in 2021 “really hurt Matt,” a friend said. The book included private text messages between them, and Couric called Lauer’s alleged behavior “callous” and “grossly inappropriate.”
“His friends would love to see him do something again,” said the insider “He’d be great at a podcast or his own production firm, using his skills behind the scenes. He looks at how someone like Megyn Kelly has reinvented herself on her own terms.
“His problem is that he can’t go back to mainstream TV, because advertisers would likely pull away. He could do a podcast or something on his own terms. All of his friends hope he can find a pathway. But he isn’t rushing into anything.”
Friends say that Lauer has put all of his “reparations” into his children, with the second source revealing that he’s now an empty nester as his youngest is at boarding school and his other kids are in college.
Lauer has three children with his former wife, Annette Roque: Jack, 21, Romy, 19, and Thijs, 16. The former couple finalized their divorce in September 2019.
He is said to have spent Christmas in New Zealand with his kids. In 2017, Lauer paid $9.2 million to lease a 16,000-acre sheep and cattle farm called Hunter Valley Station. It includes more than eight miles of lakefront land bordering Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka, a five-bedroom house and other farm buildings, plus miles of riverfront along the Hunter River.
He had been in danger of losing the farm when authorities in New Zealand launched an investigation following his firing from NBC to establish whether he had breached the “good character” condition the country has for foreign buyers of major assets.
New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office told the Associated Press in 2018 that Lauer was clear to stay, although, a spokesperson added, “We do not condone the inappropriate way that Mr. Lauer has behaved.”
After being booted from “Today,” Lauer left his lavish lifestyle behind — selling his Manhattan apartment for more than $7 million and forfeiting helicopter rides from the Hamptons to the city that had been paid for by NBC. He has since settled into a quiet life in Long Island. Last year, The Post revealed, he finally found a buyer for his sprawling Sag Harbor estate that was listed for $43.99 million.
Lauer and Abas, who have been dating for three years, were last week spotted enjoying a romantic date night in NYC. The insider said: “Things are going well .. Shamin is perfect for Matt because she is very supportive, but also busy with her own company. She has been traveling for work and he has been tagging along on a few trips. They seem to have a great symmetry.
“They are serious but they are not living together. She has her own place out in the East End [of the Hamptons].”
Beyond Abas, a TV industry insider said, “Matt’s circle of friends has shrunk since he was fired from NBC … he doesn’t open up to many people in the industry.
The Lauer source said the former host hasn’t remained in contact with many of his former NBC colleagues, apart from occasional events, including the funeral of Mark Traub, a beloved “Today” show stage manager.
There have been rumors he could reunite with his former NBC boss Jeff Zucker, who himself resigned from CNN in 2022 following revelations of an in-office affair. Zucker is leading RedBird IMI, which is focused on acquiring and investing in entertainment and sports content.
“That would be surprising to me, they’ve been really hot and cold since the scandal,” said the Lauer source. “Towards the end of last year they kind of rekindled their friendship, but I know the two of them have been hot and cold over the past several years.”
Lauer apparently misses aspects of his old life. “I think once you’re a journalist, you always are,” said the insider. “You can’t ever shake that. You’re never not uninterested in the news.”
According to the Lauer source, “He is at a new normal … he exercises daily. I think he feels like he’s got a bit of normalcy in his life. But it’s not what his normal was.
“Everyone said he went into hiding,” said the source, adding that was inaccurate. “It was just that you saw him on TV every single day for 20 years, and then you just didn’t see him.”
