EXCLUSIVE: No Tomorrow for Fired 'Today' Anchor Matt Lauer — Accuser's Tell-All Derails Plans for Disgraced Newsman's TV Comeback
Matt Lauer's comeback falters after his accuser's tell-all derails the host's TV return amid scandal.
Feb. 26 2026, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
Disgraced newsman Matt Lauer has been itching to return to TV since getting axed from Today in 2017 – but a bombshell memoir from the alleged sex creep's rape accuser has dashed his dreams, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"This is a real hammer blow for Matt," an insider confided. "The timing is terrible as he started the year bragging how he's finally making headway with his comeback and that all those years of keeping his head down have finally paid off.
"He was caught totally off guard by this tell-all, and it's got him in that familiar position of frantically doing damage control and insisting the encounter was totally consensual."
Lauer Accuser Details Disturbing Claims
Brooke Nevils alleged in her book Matt Lauer assaulted her during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, which he denied.
Lauer, 68, was fired from his high-profile post at the NBC morning show after former network talent assistant Brooke Nevils alleged that he sexually assaulted her in a hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and other women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Lauer has denied any wrongdoing. Yet Nevils' book – Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe – claims over a decade ago she found herself "drunk and alone" with the Daytime Emmy winner, who was "insisting on anal sex."
Nevils alleges she awoke in "undeniable pain" and found her "underwear and the sheet beneath me caked with blood."
She added: "It hurt to walk. It hurt to sit. It hurt to remember."
Disturbing Claim Resurfaces Again
In her memoir, Nevils recounted telling Lauer she felt 'weird and humiliating' and referenced his alleged comment about 'what happened last time.'
However, she said at the time, "I had no idea what to call what happened other than weird and humiliating."
Nevils also claims the since-divorced journalist – who's been dating businesswoman Shamin Abas since 2019 – grabbed an armful of towels before another encounter, purporting that he said, "Just in case... because of what happened last time."
She wrote: "'What happened last time' could only have been the blood. He saw it in Sochi. He has known about it all along."
Comeback Hopes Crushed Again
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An insider called the allegations in Nevils' book a 'real hammer blow' to Lauer's efforts to revive his television career.
The insider said of Nevils' memoir: "This touches a real raw nerve because it pertains to a period of his life that Matt's utterly ashamed of, yet he's having it dragged up yet again and being painted as a predator and a creep.
"There's just no way anyone's likely to take a gamble on him as things stand. This just proves his reputation is shot to pieces.
"He's devastated and very bitter. He swears it's all a giant conspiracy and that certain folks are determined to keep wrecking his life for their own sadistic purposes."
