Matt Lauer Poses for Rare Photo at Charity Gala in the Hamptons

Matt Lauer Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation
PMC / Michael Ostuni

The former 'Today' anchor stepped out in support of the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.

Matt Lauer enjoyed a charitable night out on Saturday, posing for a rare photo op at a gala in the Hamptons. 

The former Today show anchor looked relaxed as he attended the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation's 14th annual Unconditional Love gala at The Muses in Southampton, New York, as the event raised funds to rescue and find forever homes for homeless animals in the Long Island community. Among the other attendees was Lauer's longtime friend and former NBC colleague, Jill Rappaport. 

The event was chaired by Jean Shafiroff, honoring Jon Ledecky, co-owner of the New York Islanders, and Matt Meeker, co-founder and CEO of BARK. The Honorary Chair was Georgina Bloomberg. 

For the outing, Lauer wore a tan suit jacket over cream pants with a casual open-collar shirt underneath. 

PMC / Michael Ostuni
PMC / Michael Ostuni

Lauer, 65, has kept a low profile since he was fired from NBC in November 2017 in the wake of sexual harassment allegations made against him. He has denied all allegations against him, including an allegation of sexual assault by his former NBC News colleague, Brooke Nevils. 

In September 2019, Lauer finalized his divorce from his ex-wife, Annette Roque, after 20 years together. The former couple shares three children -- Jack, Romy and Thijs.

Lauer was spotted in January 2023 on a rare New York City outing, shopping with his PR executive girlfriend, Shamin Abas. 

The low-key couple are longtime friends that sparked up a romance in October 2019. They were photographed for the first time together two months later as they were catching a flight out of New Jersey to New Zealand. Before January, the duo had not been photographed publicly since September 2022, when they were seen jet skiing in the Hamptons. 

At the time of Lauer and Abas' relationship going public, a source told ET that Lauer "has spent a great deal of time reflecting on his role in his downfall and knows the only way to get past this is to start over."

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