For some reason, Matt Lauer’s wife Annette Roque has always reminded me of Bridget Moynahan. I’ll get even more specific: she reminds me of Bridget’s Natasha character in Sex and the City. Am I the only one? Anyway, poor Annette. Just, poor Annette. She’s known her husband is a terrible person for a long time. They separated at some point, years ago, amidst claims that he was emotionally abusive and cruel to her. Eventually they reconciled, but it absolutely seemed like the bloom was off the rose of their marriage, and like they pretty much lived separate lives. Well, now that Lauer has been fired and more women are coming forward to tell their stories of his harassment, abuse and assault, it seems like Annette isn’t going to Good-Wife her way through this. She’s not sticking by her man. Can’t say I blame her.
Matt Lauer’s long-suffering wife Annette Roque has fled their home and is rumored to have headed back to her native Netherlands amid his sex harassment scandal. Multiple sources tell Page Six that Dutch-born former model Annette — Lauer’s wife of 20 years — was last seen at their Hamptons home on Wednesday, the day Lauer’s firing was announced.
One Hamptons source told Page Six, “Annette has taken their two younger kids out of school and is believed to have left the US and gone to her family in her native country.” It is believed her mother lives near Amsterdam. Amid the scandal, Annette has remained silent. She and Lauer have three children, Romy, 14, son Thijs, 11, and oldest son Jack, who is at a prep school outside Manhattan. It is not known if the kids are with Annette or remained at home with Lauer.
Reps for Lauer have repeatedly declined to comment on the state of his marriage or the whereabouts of his wife. Annette briefly filed for divorce in 2006, claiming she suffered “cruel and inhumane” treatment from Lauer, who she said in legal documents was controlling and demonstrated “extreme anger and hostility.” She withdrew the divorce filing a month later. Another well-placed source insisted that the reason Annette withdrew her divorce filing is that Lauer offered her a post-nuptial agreement at the time of the filing, offering her up to a rumored $5 million deal to remain in the marriage.
The source said, “Matt needed to stay in the marriage to keep his reputation as America’s nicest dad. He is in fact a great, and very doting dad to his kids, but he is also a terrible husband.”
It sounds like Annette was Lauer’s victim as much as many of his female colleagues. I would assume that she didn’t just go back to him for the money – she likely went back because she didn’t want a messy divorce, she wanted to raise her children in peace, and she got Lauer to agree to the idea of “separate lives.” She lives in the Hamptons full-time, and I would assume Lauer spends much of the week in Manhattan. Anyway, I don’t hate that Annette is getting the f–k out of there. More power to her.
Meanwhile, it was reported last week that Lauer was asking for a $30 million golden parachute following his dismissal from NBC. Page Six pointed out that Lauer’s contract included a morals clause, which he so clearly broke, so it was unlikely that NBC would have to pay him anything. Now The Hollywood Reporter says that NBC will not have to pay out on the remainder of Lauer’s $20-million-per-year deal, which would have extended to 2018. It is believed that Lauer’s lawyers will fight the network for some kind of contractual compensation, although NBC is staying firm (for now) that Lauer will not be getting any more money.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I bet she couldn’t leave fast enough!
Yet another couple who resemble each other.
It’s good she’s got somewhere to go to get away from this ugliness.
I just popped in to this thread to say that! Damn, they look like the same person.
I always thought Amal and George looked like twins. So many couples look alike.
When we were younger, people constantly asked my husband and I if we were brother and sister.
@megan- Me too! My husband and I got asked if we were siblings on our honeymoon 🤨.
God, that’s a beautiful woman. I hope she has a better life.
She looks a very classy woman, why do women like that put up with horrible men like him, he’s lost everything now.
IMO, the pressure and emotional abuse in a relationship like this makes a woman ** think** she is vulnerable. Having children together makes the situation worse and abusers KNOW how to exploit that. That PoS could have been a “good father” to his children as a divorced man, but no, he HAD to maintain his image as a family man, which was a shield to his fat paycheck, and allowed him to abuse more women. She might have “put up” with him because she put her children first, I bet he’s threatened her, he was the one who had the power, and she felt weak. These revelations opened the door to her freedom.
Also, IMO, I hope that at least women who have financial resources and access to legal advice – domestic violence happens EVERYWHERE, no matter how rich or poor people are – seek legal advice, find a therapist who helps them to empower themselves, and GET OUT. Also, if any financial reward is provided in exchange of staying together with the abuser, women in that situation should ask to have their OWN bank account, in a separate bank, so the abuser does not have access to the account information of his wife. And put that money to good use, find a lawyer who can find a way so they can have legal protection for themselves and their children, and GET OUT.
Fear, even at the perception level, is real, and is strong.
I hope he lost any power to abuse other women, not just his reputation, money, and family.
That’s the first time I see her photos, she reminds me of Liberty Ross for some reason. Now she was smart.
Let’s get real. It’s also because it allowed her to live on a 40 acre “boutique horse farm”. She may have simply felt that the trade off was acceptable.
A question. Why would NBC allow an anchor to place a button under his desk to lock people in? All these modifications in an office have to be approved. I can see if you don’t want people in and it saves you locking the door. But this. I just don’t get it.
I wondered about that, too. Maybe he paid to have it done.
NBC seemed to give him whatever he wanted.
NBC knew and enabled him. That’s why.
That someone would have this door lock mechanism doesn’t bother me. This is common in some workplaces for safety reasons. He obviously abused it though.
I can understand having a door locking mechanism that locks others out…….but one that locks people in? That’s not a safety feature.
Locking people in was not the intent – that’s just a byproduct of the design. That’s his abuse. It’s intended to lock people OUT if there’s an active shooter or a similar situation, and presumably lacked a way to do a one sided lock.
My panic lock only allows the door to lock from the outside, not the inside. Having it lock from the inside would be a fire code issue.
If it’s an electronic lock, it can/should be programmed to automatically unlock if the fire alarm is triggered. Manual locks should only lock from outside, those inside the room can still get out…unless the locksmith goofs. The CEO at my old firm got locked in his office on his first day because the new lock on his office door got installed backward. Everyone else was horrified, but he was a good sport about it, “I promise to come back tomorrow if someone lets me out.”
Jetlagged- wow, your old company had quite a serious work ethic. “No, you can’t come out until you finish that pile of papers on your desk. There will be a quiz.”
One of the articles (Vanity Fair?) stated that was not uncommon with high profile personalities, for added security.
Locking people out makes sense in an emergency, although that can also be a fire hazard and there should be a bypass for emergency responders.
But I would like to ask the network if their policy is to allow those buttons to lock people inside the room. There are too many problems with that from a safety standpoint, as mentioned. And no reason to do it that way. I’m quite certain that the people who installed the remote controlled lock had other options.
It’s also likely he got into wardrobe in his office, so a remote lock designed to keep people from walking in on him isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
I hope his sons don’t model their father’s behavior.
Girl, run, and give your boys a different example.
They sound like a version of Don and Betty Draper – former model married to a pathological philanderer, liar, manipulator, criminal.
YES!!! Don and Betty Draper in real life. And don’t forget the equestrian angle.
I’m glad for her she finally left him, but I’m wondering if they are planning on shipping all their horses to Europe? They have a farm here and I believe their daughter rides too. This is a big deal, the horses have to go through quarantine, etc. I wonder if this temporary and she will come home at some point.
I’m thinking this is just temporary while the heat of the story is high. She and their children’s lives have been built in the Hamptons over the years. They have friends and a life in the Hamptons. If she legally separates and then divorces him, I can see her keeping the Hamptons home and he keeps the NYC apartment.
I say if, because they may have made a decision long ago to stay married for the sake of the children/family and lead separate lives most of the time. Frankly, it’s a compromise to divorce if both parties agree, you remain civil and can make it work.
Or maybe she’ll sell everything off and live a peaceful life away from the legacy her scumbag husband’s crimes and abuse.
Yes @Luca I hope she sells off as much as she legally is able and goes back to her native home in the Netherlands and takes the children so they can start fresh.I have been there and it’s a lovely place and kids are resilient.Change will be hard for them all at first but getting out of the spotlight and high society gossip I would think would be a total relief.Obviously I don’t know these people and never will but if I had the choice I’d run like hell with my kids and never look back.He can see them after therapy and if he’s not in jail on rape charges like he probably should be.Just my two cents
Riders fly their horses for competition all the time, so I doubt the quarantine would be lengthy. The Dutch are famous for their horses so I believe it wouldn’t be too much trouble to have them flown over as they most likely have a relatively smooth system.
I hope she does it soon before the malignant skeeve tries to keep them to hurt her.
I just meant it would be kind of an inconvenience to ship them there and quarantine them unless it was a more permenent move. I think they have over 30 horses. The Dutch do have a strong program but so does America especially near the Hamptons. And the kids get weird about leaving their friends and trainers. I tend to think she left while this was a big story and will come back but who knows. I’m glad she is finally done with him he’s been a predator for years.
Oh, I see what you mean now.
I think the hard part would be finding a suitable farm for them and introducing them to new handlers. The worst is when two horses don’t like each other but accidentally are placed in stalls next to each other, or new people have to be trained to their personalities.
It is a mess and sad for her and her children. She built a life though it wasn’t a happy one.
If it were an option, I’d move to the Netherlands as well. Run far and run fast, girl. Matt Lauer is a vicious bastard, and will take out his anger on everyone around him. Best not to stick around to see it.
Besides the women, Matt assaulted or harassed , I feel sorry for his children. They have to deal with the knowledge of what their father did and having the whole world know about it. Imagine being sixteen years old and having your peers in school knowing and gossiping about your father ? I don’t think I would ever want to go back to school
The poor children. This is what I always wonder about, too, RBC. How do these creeps not think about the effect their vile behaviour will have on their family, especially their children? I’ve come to the conclusion that they truly believe they’ll never get caught and their actions exposed. So I then ask, what makes them think they’ll be the one to escape, when so many get busted. Eh…jails are full of “innocent” people who believed they’d never get found out. As my wise Sard mamma always said: “Eventually, every knot gets caught in the comb.”
“Eventually, every knot gets caught in the comb.” I’ve never heard this one but I really like it! My close friend and I used to work for some really shady, underhanded people and she would tell me not to worry because “what you do in the dark will eventually come into the light.”
Not to mention I don’t believe for a second that with the anger issues he has that he never took out that anger on his children. The doting dad comment irritated me…he could easily (and likely!) play the doting dad in public while snapping at his kids regularly at home.
She’s beautiful. I can only speculate how utterly ‘alone’ she’s felt for years. For some reason I’m thinking of Big Little Lies.
She is beautiful. I remember recognizing her from early J Crew catalogs when she got together with Lauer, lol, so I had a soft spot for her.
It makes me sad she stayed with him after that initial divorce filing, but I’m glad she’s finally getting away.
He is reportedly physical brutish and was seen manhandling her in public, so I get what you mean about BLL. I see that dynamic at play too.
She apparently filed when their third was a newborn, and one of the allegations was that he would denigrate and demean her parenting, saying she was useless as a mother. I found that interesting because numerous studies have established that abusive men often begin, and almost always amplify, abusing a woman when she is pregnant. She is vulnerable and, to an extent, can never remove him from her life again. And they almost always tell the women they are useless parents and will lose their children if they leave, too. So the denigrating of her parenting is right from that playbook.
Ugh!! The more I read about this guy the more I despise him. It’s amazing how different reality can be from the carefully cultivated image people show us on tv.
Of course. Ugly-souled men know exactly what they’re doing. Pregnancy is a ripe time for denigrating. How despicable one must be to employ such hateful tactics. Every woman should be given a huge ass medal at birth simply for the crap that’s coming.
That makes it even more sad she didn’t go through with the divorce back then.
It sounds like it was an abusive situation, I hope she and the kids come out of this ok.
I know I am reaching, but I wonder after Annette filed for divorce, NBC wanted the divorce to go away because Lauer’s brand was the morning show family man act. He was there number 1 guy and important commodity for them. She made a deal with him and possibly NBC. She lived a separate life in the Hamptons and NBC allowed him to continue harming women, while he remained untouched.
Hmmm. This doesn’t sound like too much of a reach, Lila. Years ago, we used to get a delayed telecast of the show down here. I never could stand Lauer – so smarmy and oily.
Just looking at his f#*kin face sickens me — nothing new.
I’ve added his to my list of faces that sicken me. The list seems to be growing by the day. Ugh.
She has a good sense of style.
I’m certain she’ll make a nice life for herself & the children in Europe. Hopefully she’ll never have to lay eyes on him again, just his $$$$
I love the top outfit as well the mustard dress with the necklace.
Except for the necklace with yellow dress.
I love her style, very class and sophisticated.
She looks like a lovely woman-I don’t blame her, I’d bounce too.
imagine raping someone in your office, legally getting away with it and then having the balls to sue your former employer for more money once you were fired. to be a bald white man.
Right?! His sense of entitlement is breathtaking.
Yes, this. Of course he’ll need the $$ for the divorce settlement and civil suits (poor guy, ha).
It’s just incredible. Disgusting creep.
absolutely repulsive!! and what a role model for his kids
He can waste his money on atty fees and fight this but NBC got an iron clad morality clause. I don’t think it was an unjust termination either. He doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
Around the time they got married I think she said something about being more accustomed to being the other woman herself so she wasn’t worried about him cheating (?). Does anyone remember that? It was a lovely wedding, all lace and deep red, but I remember scratching my head at one of the quotes.
I hope you grabbed suitcases full of cash!
He is so repulsive.
I hope she has a solid support system. I always feel so bad for the children in situations like this.
I too remember when she initially filed for divorce, I thought they were divorced, and had no idea she was still living with that awful man. It may have bullied her into staying by using the children against her. She now has grounds for custody and leave him behind forever.
I read that he offered her 5 million to stay with him. I bet that she gets a lot more in the divorce settlement . He is absolutely loaded.
I keep hearing the comments that she stayed with Lauer for $5million. Is that really true or is that what NBC and Lauer spread to their media friends to change her image from victim to goaldigger? Remember how Harvey would leak false and negative stories about his victims to the press?
A woman that grabs her children and runs away to another country (yes I know her family is there but still) at the first sign of weakness from her powerful husband and his even more powerful corporation is not a woman who is after money. That’s what a prisoner does or a person seeking shelter. She stands to loose money and be charged with kidnapping.
I think if his media friends do some investigating, we will find out the other side of the story. We will find out the real reason the wife had to stay with him. Clue: Matt’s reputation and NBC’s ratings and bank account.
I don’t know that she’s fled to Europe with her kids. Page Six has pictures of Lauer driving the youngest son to school today.
I remember she was heavily pregnant with her last child when she filed. I was surprised that divorce quietly went away.
Its funny. i believe that Annette believed that he had affairs but that they were consensual and accepted that as the price of raising her children in peace with a comfortable lifestyle. I don’t believe that of Georgina Chapman. I believe that Georgina knew that Harvey was a predator and a bully, and that suited her just fine when it resulted in celebrities wearing her clothes on the red carpet.
We have proof that Annette reported Lauer’s abuse and her wish to leave the marriage became of divorce fillings. Stories about Lauer were of him being an a-hole to co-workers and having affairs. Annette confirmed he is an a-hole to his wife too.
The receipts on Chapman not being a partial partner to Harvey are zero. In fact the proof is of starlets being forced to wear Chapman’s clothes when in a Harvey movie. Same actresses never wore her clothes before or after promoting Harvey’s films. It was a joint husband and wife hustle. Also Chapman lived in a small community where stories of Harvey’s abuse was apparently common knowledge, her children had been used as props for her sleazy husband. She would still be with Harvey if he had not been exposed in a way that hurt her company. She tried to pull the “I’m shocked, shocked to see gambling in this casino”. Feminism does not mean supporting *all* women, it means asking for *equal* treatment regardless of your gender. In equal treatment, Chapman is an a-hole IMO regardless of her gender.
Not to sound judgmental, because I am Team Annette all the way, but… those kids needs to stay in routine right now. Why did she pull them from school during the semester and fly them to Amsterdam? Wouldn’t it be easier on them to bring Grandma here instead?
To me, grabbing your babies and secretly running away to safe harbor out of the country is a sign that she was more or less a prisoner of a wealthy and powerful man. If she flies for divorce because of abuse, but was somehow prevented from going through with it yet allowed to live a separate life again screams prisoner. What are the chances Lauer would have allied her solo or joint custody of her children? Would her children be better served living with a man like Lauer as a role model?
She must have had either a legal right or his consent to take the kids international, no?
@CoCo Catchoo. The eldest one remains in board school, likely the only one with upcoming finals that “matter”. The two younger children won’t experience much disruption in leaving for Christmas a week or two early. Eldest can join her and the two younger ones after finals.
If she saw this coming years ago and had one foot out the door? She would already have found suitable international schools in The Netherlands. Unless Matt Lauer wants a bigger scandal, she and the three kids will likely relocate to Europe permanently.
This “source” is her or her side. Stresses he’s a horrible husband but great father. PR-wise that covers her wanting to run, and pressures him into agreeing the kids get a peaceful life out of the US.
She may have felt the emotional damage from either the publicity or their father coming to the house was too much.
Not that much gets done in school before a major holiday break anyway, it would be easy to just have the kids finish up any school work while taking an early vacation. We left a month before the end of the school year once for a two-month traveling thing, and the school just wanted us to keep a daily diary in place of the normal schoolwork. Needless to say, my brother and I didn’t exactly keep it up daily but faked it once every week or so, ordering room service for sustenance and feverishly making up entries for the appointed days…. Nowadays the kids can be in video contact with teachers via computers and just continue the normal curriculum.
We’ll see if she brings them back or not in January.
Because Amsterdam isn’t likely to be 24-7 humiliating stories about their dad.
She didn’t. This rumor has been proven untrue and her kids were seen in ny a few days ago.
Run and stay ran Annette. Do not come back to him or near him. Enjoy the tulips and if life gets stressy go to Amsterdam and smoke it out for a weekend just don’t ever return to the misery.
Ew he’s so gross. And good for her! Take the kids & bounce.
The rumor is that he offered her $5 million to stay married to him back in 2006. The ‘sources’ also talk about how they could tell whenever Matt got caught cheating because there would be another $100,000 horse at their “40 acre boutique horse farm”. He was probably really awful to be married to. But that was also the trade off that Annette was willing to make for the lifestyle.
I understand her decision to leave but I do feel bad for the kids.
Why wouldn’t he just take the 100 million he’s already made and quietly leave the spotlight? If he’s as prolific of a pervert as is claimed, NBC doing a modicum of digging could fight this and win. Unless his argument is NBC execs knew he was a harasser and did nothing; therefore; implicitly condoned his behavior.
Ego, probably. His has to have been massive to do what he did.
She’s probably quite scared for her safety, now that he’s lost his career and prestige his behavior could escalate and if he’s short on victim supply then she could easily be in the line of fire.
+10000
I believe this too! I admire her for quietly getting out of dodge before the media or anyone else knew. She went “missing” and boom showed up with her children in the safety of her family’s arms far, far away. That’s the suggested technique for escaping an abusive spouse.
Yes she’s done well! Out of anyone, she will know just how dark he can be, and what he may be capable of (outside of what we’ve already heard). He seems to have a simmering cold rage and that is even more scary to me than blowhard rageaholics… I wish her safety and happiness far, far away from him!
IMHO, one of the characteristics of a good father is a man who respects the mother of his children.
Maybe Fox will pick him up he seems like a real fit for that sewer.
Lol, we have a vintage sign over our sink that says ” The most important thing a father can do for his children is love their mother” Found it at a thrift shop.
I hope he isn’t a licensed gun owner. If he is, I hope she stays far far away. He seems dangerous to me, not just sexually, but capable of pulling hair and drop kicking you dangerous. And I know nothing and about him, never watched the am show he was on, I’ve always been a GMA girl.
I love that saying – so true.
This whole thing is insane. The button under his desk that locks the office door… Wtf?!
To me she resembles Ann Curry in the first photo but also somewhat in the second one.
What about a married boss who charms the pants off of you, but you go along with it (and find yourself WANTING it)? Because I did. =(
Stupid of me, yes. I’m also fairly certain that I’m not the only female coworker (or female in general) that he’s done this with. I wonder if he’ll try it with the wrong person and find himself out of a job too…
I’m 100% on Team Annette, but in these cases I do wonder why women continue to have children with an abusive partner. Why would you want to bring an innocent person into such a mess?
Because one is lonely and looking for the unconditional, adoring love that a baby and child give their mother.
The facts that are reported in the story are:
Laurer locked the door from a secret button under the desk, so the rape victim could not get out.
It is ILLEGAL to lock a person in a room.
She was raped, which is a felony crime.
She needed EMERGENCY Medical Attention.
The statues of limitation to prosecute Lauer for rape (may or may not have ended).
NBC is still completely liable.
No boutique horse farm could hold me after the last revelations.
Run, Annette, run.