Matt Lauer was spotted dining in a fancy New York City restaurant with a high-powered producer from NBC’s Today show, it has been reported.
The fired host of NBC’ flagship morning program was seen at East Pole, an Upper East Side restaurant, with Deborah Kasofsky, on Thursday.
News of the dinner was first reported by Page Six.
‘They were in the middle of the room,’ a source told the web site.
‘They were talking about vacation spots.’
Matt Lauer (left) was spotted dining in a fancy New York City restaurant with a Deborah Kasofsky (right), high-powered producer from NBC’s Today show, it has been reported
The fired host of NBC’ flagship morning program was seen at East Pole, an Upper East Side restaurant, with Kasofsky on Thursday
Lauer reportedly told Kasofsky that he was thinking of moving out of the Hamptons and ‘to the mountains.’
Another source said that the two only talked about ‘his kids’ and did not discuss him possibly moving.
‘They’ve been good friends for 30 years,’ one source said.
Lauer put his spacious Sag Harbor home on the market for $12.75million.
Lauer was fired last year by NBC after allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct. He is seen above alongside co-host Savannah Guthrie (left) and Hoda Kotb (right) on November 16, 2017, just days before his termination
This past April, Lauer sold his Manhattan apartment for $7million.
He and his estranged wife, Annette Roque, own other properties in eastern Long Island, including a 40-acre horse farm in Water Mill.
Lauer was fired last year by NBC after allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct.
His meeting with a Today producer is an apparent sign that he still has considerable support within the company that dumped him after 25 years of service as a morning host.
In the last few months, Lauer has lost his multi-million dollar gig, his marriage, and his good-guy reputation.
But he did receive a piece of good news on Thursday.
The New Zealand government ruled that Lauer can keep his farm in the country, saying there was currently ‘insufficient evidence’ he had failed required character tests for overseas investors.
Lauer’s firing from NBC News raised questions in New Zealand about whether Lauer would be able to retain a 27,000-acre sheep and cattle farm he bought with his wife in February 2017, given the country’s strict foreign investment laws require investors to ‘remain of good character.’
New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office (OIO), which has the power to enforce the sale of property if any conditions are breached, said it had ‘insufficient evidence at this time to take proceedings against Lauer for breach of the condition.’
Lisa Barrett, deputy chief executive of policy and overseas investment, noted that Lauer has not been charged with or convicted of any offence.
‘However, the OIO will continue to actively monitor the matter should further information come to light,’ Barrett said in a statement.
Ken Lindner, Lauer’s agent in Los Angeles, was not immediately available for comment.
Lauer recently issued a statement, included in the OIO’s decision, denying any allegations of ‘coercive, aggressive or abusive actions’, while acknowledging he ‘acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC.’
Foreign ownership of land has generated a public backlash in New Zealand in recent years, with the center-left ruling coalition government introducing tougher standards for sale of farmland to foreigners.