Matt Lauer was fired from Today amid a sexual misconduct scandal - but where is he now after being forced out of the public eye? Lauer joined Today in 1994 and became one of the hosts three years later. He was fired from the show in November 2017 after being accused of sexual misconduct. A female staffer claimed that Lauer acted inappropriately when they covered the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, three years earlier. Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie announced his firing on-air and went on to take his place as the show's cohosts. "I have made no public comments on the many false stories from anonymous or biased sources that have been reported about me over these past several months. I remained silent in an attempt to protect my family from further embarrassment and to restore a small degree of the privacy they have lost," Lauer said in a statement to The Washington Post in 2018. "But defending my family now requires me to speak up. I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC." He continued: "However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false." The Most Dramatic 'Today' Show Exits Over the Years: Hoda Kotb and More Amid the fallout, Lauer's then-wife, Annette Roque, filed for divorce in July 2019. The pair, who share three kids, have since finalized the proceedings and Lauer has been dating Shamin Abas amid a possible public return. "They're very much on," a source exclusively told Us Weekly in 2024. "He wants to show that he's in a stable relationship. He's not a playboy. He has a stable life." The insider said Lauer is focused on "building the foundation for a comeback." "He's not going off into the sunset," the source added. "He is on good terms with his kids, which was the most important thing for him. This was not always the case post-divorce but now he's good with the kids." Keep scrolling to see where Lauer is now: What Was Matt Accused of and How Did the Investigation End? Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Lauer's career made headlines in November 2017 when he was fired from NBC amid a sexual misconduct scandal. At the time, a female colleague accused him of inappropriate behavior during the network's coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, three years prior. Following his departure from NBC, journalist Ronan Farrow published new details about the alleged assault in his 2019 book, Catch and Kill. Did Matt Speak Out at the Time? (Photo by Getty) Lauer issued a statement after his firing. "There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC. Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed," he said in a statement to Us at the time. "I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly." What Was Matt's Response to Ronan's Claims? Noam Galai/WireImage "On October 9, 2019, I was falsely accused of rape," Lauer wrote in a blog post on Mediaite in May 2020. "This accusation was one of the worst and most consequential things to ever happen in my life, it was devastating for my family, and outrageously it was used to sell books." Lauer claimed that his past interactions with his accuser Brooke Nevils were "consensual, yet inappropriate." He also admitted he felt "shaken, but not surprised" by his former coworkers' lack of support amid the public drama. "The rush to judgment was swift. In fact, on the morning I was falsely accused of rape, and before I could even issue a statement, some journalists were already calling my accuser 'brave' and 'courageous,'" he continued. "I was also disappointed, but not surprised, that Ronan Farrow's overall reporting faced so little scrutiny." Farrow, for his part, slammed Lauer's comments about his reporting being "too good" to be true, writing via X at the time, "All I'll say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong. Catch and Kill was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself." Shocking TV Exits Through the Years Where Is Matt Now? Gotham/GC Images After a break from the spotlight, a source told Us that Lauer was "still clamoring for a comeback" and he "no longer feels" shame about the scandal. Two years later, another insider confirmed Lauer hadn't ruled out a TV return. "He's started to talk to people," a source shared. "He's planning his next act, still very upset with how he was portrayed, and still feels like he was the victim." The insider told Us that Lauer "wants to get back into the media," adding, "He wants to be relevant again; what that is exactly is yet to be decided. He went from being the biggest guy out there, and now every headline [attached to him]