Don Lemon has high hopes for Matt Lauer’s future.
Seven years after the “Today” show anchor was fired from NBC over sexual misconduct allegations, Lemon insisted that “the public misses him.”
The former CNN journalist, 58, told “Hollywood Raw” listeners Wednesday that he’s seen proof that “people love him” and “women love him” while out with Lauer and his partner, Shamin Abas.
“They’re like, ‘Man, oh my God, can I get a picture? I love you. I miss you on television,’” Lemon said.
After acknowledging that “it’s the people inside the business who are afraid of” Lauer, Lemon noted, “Maybe there is a way that he’ll come back.
“I think that if he could come back to digital, he can set his own course,” he continued. “I think the general public would accept — just me — would accept Matt back.”
Lemon, who predicted that “people would watch [Lauer] and … the ratings would be great,” connected with Lauer “after the whole situation happened.”
Lauer and Abas attended Lemon’s New York City wedding to husband Tim Malone in April 2024.
At the time, Us Weekly reported that Lauer “want[ed] to get back into the media” and had “started to talk to people.”
A source told the outlet, “He’s planning his next act, still very upset with how he was portrayed, and still feels like he was the victim. He wants to be relevant again; what that is exactly is yet to be decided.”
The previous year, Page Six reported that Lauer “thinks that he should be able to have a comeback” on his “own terms.”
In 2017, Lauer was dismissed from “Today” over former NBC employee Brooke Nevils’ rape allegation.
When Ronan Farrow wrote about the allegations in “Catch and Kill,” Lauer slammed the reporting as “flawed” and hit back at the “rush to judgment” over the alleged assault.
“I was shaken, but not surprised, that few in the media were willing to thoroughly challenge the accusations against me, or the person making them,” he wrote at the time.
Lauer started dating Abas, that same year, two years after splitting from wife Annette Roque, with whom he shares Jack, 23, Romy, 21, and Thijs, 18.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
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