Matt Lauer's ongoing divorce will soon find the television personality walking away with a whole lot of money taken out of his pocket. It's being reported today that the former Today host will shell out $20 million to his ex-wife, Annette Roque, as they're in the midst of settling the separation paperwork. The multi-million dollar payout is reportedly on Lauer's insistence, though, because he allegedly feels guilty about cheating on Roque with multiple women.
Annette Roque and Matt Lauer were married for nearly 20 years before several allegations of inappropriate workplace misconduct caused the husband to be terminated from his high-paying NBC job in November. Roque and Lauer were divorced in May, although Fox News claims the former couple is currently getting along amicably as they settle their divorce proceedings. They are both spending time in their 12-bedroom Hamptons house as they continue to figure out their arrangements. A source close to the one-time couple claims that things have "settled down," and they're currently spending time with their three children, Jack (17), Romy (14) and Thijs (11), as they put the final touches on their divorce, which should be settled "very soon."
It was Matt Lauer who agreed to the hefty paycheck to Annette Roque, believing she is due to a big payout after the emotional turmoil she has gone through since the allegations against Lauer became public knowledge. And while many affairs are currently in order, there are some dangling threads in the proceeding matters. The biggest question mark that remains is the estate. It's currently unclear who will get it after the divorce is finalized. They both love it, and Lauer goes so far as to consider it his "dream house." They are still undecided about that specific matter, and it's unclear what will happen.
The unnamed source close to Matt Lauer and Annette Roque claims that Lauer is "bending over backwards" to accommodate his ex-wife as best he can because he feels "so guilty" about what happened in the last year to their family life, public image, and married life, but he'd like to keep the house.
Additionally, this divorce has reportedly been smoother than other divorces, including (and especially) other celebrity divorces, because Matt Lauer got Annette Roque to sign a postnuptial agreement back in 2006 when Lauer was able to get Roque to drop her divorce filing at the time. Perhaps ironically, Lauer agreed to pay Roque a giant wad of money at the time in order to keep the couple together to secure Lauer's public image as a squeaky clean persona on the NBC program. Evidently, when the allegations of misconduct came about, those cards weren't on the table anymore. The divorce is nearly official, and while it is not yet over, they are still workshopping the details and getting everything in order before it's officially done.
We'll continue to keep you posted on the latest developments as they arrive with Matt Lauer and his divorce settlements right here at CinemaBlend.
