'Controlling & Cruel': Matt Lauer's Problems With Ex-Wife EXPOSED As His Relationship With Shamin Abas Crumbles
Nov. 5 2022, Published 5:00 a.m. ET
Matt Lauer's 19-year union with dutch model Annette Roque was already strained to the breaking point before the womanizing Today show host was fired by NBC in 2017, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In 2006, while pregnant with their third child, Annette filed bombshell divorce documents accusing Lauer of "controlling and cruel behavior" so extreme that it "endangered [her] physical and mental well-being."
Lauer, now 64, filed his own papers insisting that if he was guilty of any "inhuman treatment," he was "provoked" by his then-wife. To his inner circle, his non-apology said it all.
"His friends knew the marriage was in serious trouble," one source claimed. "He seemed totally remorseless."
It was evident their trainwreck marriage had crashed and burned when Lauer admitted he and Annette lead separate lives, with insiders claiming they had a "secret separation" years before their expensive divorce.
Years ago, Lauer described life on the then couple's 40-acre horse farm in the Hamptons as a "dream come true," but he let it slip that while Annette and their children had lived there for four years, he stayed in Manhattan — and he only visited on the weekends.
"Annette has her horses and the kids out in the Hamptons, while Matt has his own life in the city," one family source noted at the time. "It's not perfect, but it's an arrangement that suits them."
Even Annette's family had serious concerns for her during their turbulent marriage.
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A family friend claimed Lauer's in-laws remained "deeply upset at the continuing strife in Annette's marriage," adding that her mother was "frantic with worry."
Lauer and Annette finalized their divorce in September 2019, with the once-highest-paid TV host rumored to have dished out upwards of $20 million in their settlement.
Lauer's marriage might not be the only relationship he's lost. His longtime love Shamin Abas is reportedly on the brink of saying sayonara due to a difference of opinion about their future as a couple.
"They have very different ideas on what they want their wedding to be and it's causing friction in their relationship for the first time," an insider spilled. "Shamin wants something on the small side, at the house with a few close friends and relatives. But Matt wants an over-the-top five-star bash with hundreds on the guest list."
According to the source, "planning this wedding is causing serious drama," adding that Lauer has turned into a groomzilla.
"Matt's treating this as a coming-out party, not a wedding, at least in Shamin's view," the source added. "He wants to invite all the celebs in the area and around the East Coast — at least the ones who still talk to him, like Gwyneth Paltrow and Martha Stewart.
"Matt's also made up a list of must-haves from china to crystal to the menu," added the insider. "He snaps his fingers and expects Shamin to get it done — and she's fed up!
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