It can’t be easy being the daughter of disgraced “Today” host Matt Lauer.
Romy Lauer stilled seemed to be enjoying herself, with the University of Miami student sharing endless social media posts that show her going to parties, modeling stylish little dresses, and posing with attractive friends on yachts and in fabulous vacation spots around the world.
Alas, Romy Lauer’s seemingly carefree, privileged life may now be seen in a new light, given the news Wednesday that the 20-year-old was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident over the July 4 weekend and was caught because she left behind her license plate when she fled the scene.
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 22: Matt Lauer and his daughter attend NBC’s “Today” at the NBC’s TODAY Show on May 22, 2015 in New York, New York. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Page Six reported that Romy crashed her Jeep Wrangler into a fence in Southampton in the early morning hours of July 5. A concerned resident in the upscale Long Island community called 911 at about 4 a.m. to report hearing a loud noise, worried that someone was hurt.
By the time police arrived, Romy and her Jeep Wrangler were gone, Page Six reported. Fortunately, no one at the scene was hurt, but a fence and sign had been toppled over. And, the vehicle’s license plate had fallen off in the crash, allowing police to identify Matt Lauer’s daughter as the driver.
Police confirmed to Page Six that Romy, whose mother is former model Annette Roque, had been issued a summons for leaving the scene of an accident. Her TikTok account shows that the aspiring influencer returned to school in Miami, but Page Six said she can rely on “celebrity fix-it” attorney” Edward Burke Jr. to resolve her case with the court. Burke Jr. currently represents Justin Timberlake in his Hamptons DUI arrest and has helped Matt Lauer deal with “a number of legal situations,” the Daily Mail reported.
The night of July 4, Romy posted a TikTok clip of herself and two blonde friends dining at a sushi hotspot in the nearby town of Water Mill, Page Six reported. In the clip, the three exuberant young women mouthed the words of a quote that Kevin James made famous at the Daytona International Speedway in 2007: “I just got three things to say: God bless our troops, God bless America and gentleman, start your engines!”
Four days after the reported hit and run, Romy revealed on TikTok that she was jetting off to Spain the next day. She shared a video of herself, modeling a crop top and gazing at herself in her phone camera. A week later, she wore a white bikini to go snorkeling with her boyfriend in the turquoise waters off the Spanish island of Minorca.
Romy is the middle child of Matt Lauer and Annette Roque, who first filed for divorce in 2006, citing her husband’s “cruel and inhumane” behavior, but then withdrew the filing.
The couple split for good 2017, right after Lauer was fired from his high-profile anchor job at NBC’s “Today” show, following allegations that he engaged in “inappropriate sexual behavior” at the network. Along with Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Kevin Spacey and CBS boss Les Moonves, Lauer was among the powerful men in the media to face career death in the #MeToo era’s reckoning with sexual assault and harassment in American workplaces.
In their multimillion-dollar settlement, Roque got the couple’s Hamptons horse farm in Water Mill. Romy, like her mother, is an avid equestrian.
Since being fired from NBC, Lauer has mostly kept out of the spotlight. But he and Romy daughter were in the news when he appeared singing and dancing in a series of TikTok videos that she posted in 2019, Page Six reported. The videos, which have since been taken down, marked Lauer’s first return the public eye since he was let go from the “Today” show.
