{"source_url": "https://www.mercurynews.com", "url": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01/01/matt-lauer-is-reportedly-dating-a-woman-who-must-think-hes-good-boyfriend-material/", "title": "Good boyfriend material? Matt Lauer spends holidays with new girlfriend, report says", "top_image": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ap_161127317770.jpg?w=1024&h=683", "meta_img": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ap_161127317770.jpg?w=1024&h=683", "images": ["https://i1.wp.com/www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ap_520140279253.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1", "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ap_161127317770.jpg?w=1024&h=683", "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/jetpack/modules/sharedaddy/images/loading.gif", "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/themes/mercurynews/static/images/noimage.jpg", "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/plugins/dfm-trust-indicators/static/images/Trust-Logo-Horizontal.svg"], "movies": [], "text": "It looks like Matt Lauer is having no problem getting a successful and seemingly intelligent woman to think he could be a good man to date and to even trust her heart to.\n\nPage Six is reporting that the disgraced former \u201cToday\u201d host, 62, has been \u201cspending time\u201d with Shamin Abas, 53, described as a \u201cpowerhouse publicist\u201d and luxury-brand \u201cmarketing guru\u201d who, incidentally, bears a strong resemblance to his ex-wife, Annette Roque.\n\nMatt Lauer dating marketing guru Shamin Abas after finalizing divorce https://t.co/zYBebuKJVb pic.twitter.com/TW0on1lSDN \u2014 Page Six (@PageSix) December 31, 2019\n\nThe way Lauer and Abas are \u201cspending time\u201d together is \u201cserious\u201d and consequential, according to Page Six. They recently enjoyed the holidays together in New Zealand, where Lauer owns a $9.2 million lakefront ranch, Page Six said.\n\nA source close to Lauer told Page Six, \u201cMatt and Shamin have known each other for many years, as she spends a lot of time in the Hamptons, as does he. They very recently began dating, she is a lovely woman.\u201d\n\nThe couple\u2019s friendship only recently became romantic, according to Page Six. The turn came a few months after Lauer and Roque finalized their divorce in September, after more than 20 years of marriage.\n\nBut one has to wonder how Abas thinks Lauer could be a good prospect for a healthy, happy relationship. Sure, many people found him charming and affable on TV, and many find him attractive, in that graying, distinguished way of prosperous, older men. And, yes, Lauer still seems to have plenty of money \u2014 despite being unemployed and paying out at least $20 million in a divorce settlement to Roque.\n\nBut Lauer also has been accused of rape, and he admitted himself that he engaged in extramarital affairs during his marriage.\n\nBooke Nevils, a former NBC News co-worker, alleged in Ronan Farrow\u2019s new book \u201cCatch and Kill\u201d that Lauer raped her in his hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Nevils\u2019 allegations prompted NBC to fire Lauer in 2017. Nevils also asserted that she continued to have sexual encounters with Lauer after the Olympics but that they were completely \u201ctransactional,\u201d because she felt he could hurt her career if she didn\u2019t comply.\n\nNevils\u2019 allegations were only the tip of the iceberg in a #MeToo-era scandal involving the downfall of one of America\u2019s most popular and powerful TV news personalities. Several more women came forward to allege that Lauer was sexually inappropriate with them during his 20 years at NBC, and network executives have faced charges \u2014 which they denied \u2014 that they knew something of Lauer\u2019s allegedly harassing behavior but did nothing to stop it.\n\nTabloid reports of Lauer being a \u201cwomanizer\u201d went back years. Roque first filed for divorce in 2006, alleging \u201cmental abuse, extreme mental and emotional distress, humiliation, torment, and anxiety.\u201d After Lauer and Roque reconciled, she continued to deal with reports that Lauer kept his Manhattan apartment so that he could enjoy a bachelor lifestyle during the workweek while she lived apart in the Hamptons and raised their three children, ages 13 to 18.\n\nFollowing the publication of Farrow\u2019s book in October, Lauer issued a lengthy statement in which he vehemently denied forcing Nevils to have sex with him, Variety reported. He said their encounter in Sochi was consensual, and he said their subsequent sexual encounters also were consensual.\n\n\u201cI have never assaulted anyone or forced anyone to have sex. Period,\u201d he wrote in his open letter.\n\nBut in his letter, Lauer also admitted to having other \u201cextramarital relationships,\u201d which would probably give some women pause in getting involved with him.\n\n\u201cBecause of my infidelity, I have brought more pain and embarrassment to my family than most people can ever begin to understand. They\u2019ve been through hell,\u201d Lauer wrote.\n\nBut Lauer also claimed in his letter that he had \u201ctaken responsibility\u201d for what he did \u201cwrong\u201d and accepted \u201cthe consequences.\u201d\n\nMaybe Lauer has indeed reformed, and Abas is perhaps catching him at a point in his life when he would no longer put another woman through the \u201chell\u201d Roque endured.\n\nThen again, according to Page Six, Lauer\u2019s allure is such that there have been other women vying for his attention in the wake of his downfall.\n\n\u201cThere have been numerous reports of Lauer spending time with new girlfriends in the Hamptons since his split with Roque,\u201d Page Six reported. But it looks like Abas is the first woman he has decided to keep company with on a serious basis, Page Six added.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": ["Celebrities"], "authors": ["Martha Ross", "Martha Ross Is A Features Writer Who Covers Everything", "Anything Related To Popular Culture", "Society", "Health", "Women S Issues", "Families. A Native Of The East Bay", "A Graduate Of Northwestern University", "Mills College", "She S Also A Former Hard-News"], "publish_date": "Wed Jan  1 00:00:00 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "Disgraced 'Today' host Matt Lauer has reportedly gotten involved with a female friend who seems willing to overlook his admitted infidelities and the multiple harassment allegations against him.", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/32x32-mercury-news-white.png?w=32", "meta_data": {"application-name": "themercurynews", "viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1", "msvalidate.01": "4B535F7EB2971D1FCBA5D1D3E3E292C3", "description": "Disgraced 'Today' host Matt Lauer has reportedly gotten involved with a female friend who seems willing to overlook his admitted infidelities and the multiple harassment allegations against him.", "generator": "WordPress 5.3.2", "wp-parsely_version": "1.14", "fb": {"pages": 63095136336}, "google-site-verification": "jvnaFa4kq5tUDhFMQZ84bDI74A2qnu0gfhxZjZXlkko", "og": {"type": "article", "title": "Good boyfriend material? Matt Lauer spends holidays with new girlfriend, report says", "url": "http://www.mercurynews.com/matt-lauer-is-reportedly-dating-a-woman-who-must-think-hes-good-boyfriend-material", "description": "The disgraced former \u2018Today\u2019 host has reportedly gotten involved with a female friend who seems willing to overlook his admitted infidelities and the multiple harassment allegations aga\u2026", "site_name": "The Mercury News", "image": {"identifier": "https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ap_161127317770.jpg?w=1024&h=683", "width": 1024, "height": 683}, "locale": "en_US"}, "article": {"published_time": "2020-01-01T18:11:55+00:00", "modified_time": "2020-01-01T18:47:13+00:00"}, "twitter": {"site": "@mercnews", "text": {"title": "Good boyfriend material? 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