Matt Lauer May Have Secured Quickie Divorce To Avoid More Drama Amid Rape Claims
Oct. 9 2019, Published 7:23 p.m. ET
Matt Lauer quickly divorcing Annette Roque may have been to avoid even more drama before news he allegedly raped a former Today colleague got out, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.
“As a general principle it’s certainly preferable to negotiate a divorce settlement without concurrently having to answer serious allegations or deal with extraneous, salacious drama,” explained prominent New York City-based celebrity divorce lawyer Robert Wallack, who does not represent Lauer.
“So if Matt Lauer knew in advance that this rape story was coming out, he’d likely be incentivized to resolve the divorce quickly and not have it on his plate, once the rape allegations were made public," noted the legal expert from the Wallack Firm.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, an insider had revealed Lauer, who legally finalized his split from Roque in September after she filed for divorce less than two months before, “wasn’t blindsided” about his former NBC colleague Brooke Nevils’ claims he raped her in 2014.
“Matt hasn’t been himself for six months, but he goes through waves of blissful arrogance and utter despair,” the insider had said.
According to an interview with journalist and author Ronan Farrow in his upcoming book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, Nevils alleged Lauer, 61, lured her into his hotel suite during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, after she was drunk off six shots of vodka. He then, she claimed, anally raped her as she cried into her pillow.
Lauer has adamantly denied her version of events, alleging in an open letter that he instead had an “extramarital affair” with Nevils that was entirely “consensual” and lasted several months.
Whether or not Nevils’ claims are true, legal expert Wallack said Lauer finalizing his divorce proceedings with Roque was likely “more a matter of attention and focus than a matter of legal consequence.”
Still, added Wallack, “if the allegations had become public during the divorce, Annette could have tried to use them to her strategic advantage to secure an even more favorable outcome, either in a negotiated settlement, in court, or in the court of public opinion.”