Matt Lauer was fired from NBC’s “Today” show after one of his colleagues complained that the 59-year-old television journalist engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace, network officials announced Wednesday.
In a memo sent to staff, NBC News chairman Andy Lack said the allegation was the first made against Lauer in his more than 20 years at NBC News. However, Lack said company officials “were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”
Here are five things to know about Lauer:
Lauer was born in New York City on Dec. 30, 1957.
Lauer's father, Robert, was an executive for a bicycle company while his mother, Marylyn, was a homemaker, according to a report from People magazine.
He has one sister, April Lauer Stone.
Lauer attended Ohio University.
He left the school without his degree when the last class he needed wasn't offered in the spring of 1979, according to a 1997 Ohio University article. He returned nearly 20 years later to finish his degree.
Lauer began his journalism career in 1979.
He worked as a producer for WOWK in Huntington, West Virginia, according to Lauer's "Today" show biography, which has been taken down since his firing. By 1989, he had moved on to hosting a three-hour interview program, "9 Broadcast Plaza" in New York. He hosted the show until 1991.
Lauer also hosted multiple weekly information and talk shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond.
Lauer joined the “Today” show as a news anchor in 1994.
Lauer worked as co-anchor of WNBC’s early morning and early evening newscasts from September 1992 to September 1996, according to Lauer’s “Today” show biography.
Credit: Richard Drew
Credit: Richard Drew
He started appearing on the “Today” show as a substitute news anchor in 1993 and joined the show as a permanent news anchor in 1994. Three years later, he was made the show’s co-anchor.
Lauer married Dutch model Annette Roque in 1998.
The couple met on a blind date one year earlier, according to People magazine. It was the second marriage for Lauer, who was previously married to TV producer Nancy Alspaugh.
Lauer and Roque have three children, two sons and a daughter.
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