Annette Roque Releases Statement Following Rape Allegations Against Ex-Husband Matt Lauer
LatestAnnette Roque, who divorced Matt Lauer after more than 20 years of marriage following the sexual misconduct allegations—which turned out to be rape allegations—that got him fired from NBC in 2017, has released a statement.
Following a request from People, Roque’s lawyers sent a terse response:
“In response to your inquiry, our client has asked us to tell you that now that the parties are officially divorced, her priority and only concern is for their wonderful children,” Roque’s lawyer John M. Teitler said. “Our client will make no further statements.”
Lauer was let go from NBC in 2017 after the news organization received “a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But in Ronan Farrow’s forthcoming book, Catch and Kill, former NBC News employee Brooke Nevils specified that the incident was actually that Lauer anally raped her in his hotel room while in Sochi during the 2014 Olympics.
Lauer followed up the allegations with a 1,300 word letter that both paints himself as a loving—if slightly flawed—family man while shading Nevils as a liar and a money-grubber.
“Because of my infidelity, I have brought more pain and embarrassment to my family than most people can ever begin to understand,” he writes. “They’ve been through hell. I have asked for their forgiveness, taken responsibility for what I did do wrong, and accepted the consequences.” Somehow, Family Man Lauer elided the fact that he is now divorced, and down a horse farm.
In a statement read on the Today show, NBC News said that,
“Matt Lauer’s conduct was appalling, horrific and reprehensible, as we said at the time. That’s why he was fired within 24 hours of us first learning of the complaint. Our hearts break again for our colleague.”