Matt Lauer Is Finally ‘Reconnecting’ with ‘Old Friends’ 7 Years After Today Firing — But He May Never Work Again (Exclusive)

Seven years after being fired from the Today show, Matt Lauer has settled into a new life.

“There was a time there where he wasn’t really talking to anybody,” a friend of Lauer’s tells PEOPLE. “He wasn’t really talking to any of his old friends. Over the past year, he’s been reconnecting with friends and texting them and talking on the phone.”

The source says Lauer, 66, has found himself in “a really good place” with his kids Jack, 23, Romy, 21, and Thijs, 17, and his ex-wife Annette Roque, who filed for divorce from him in July 2019.

“He’s actually doing well and happy,” the friend says. “He doesn’t work and he doesn’t have to. He’s not looking to. He was a journalist at heart and he did some impactful political interviews that spanned his career, but the current cycle of politics isn’t anything even people who have been doing it for a long time are really excited to cover.”

The former anchor lives a “quiet life” in the Hamptons, but it’s “not dull and boring,” another source tells PEOPLE. “Matt has a circle of friends, including some from his big star NBC days.”

He’s also been spending a lot of time with his kids and girlfriend Shamin Abas. “Matt is a good father and has spent needed time with them during their teen years,” a New York source tells PEOPLE. “He likes being with them and has supported their interests. He loves his children.”

Lauer and Abas’ most recent public outing was when they attended Don Lemon’s wedding in New York City in April. “Matt is less worried about being seen out than he was at the beginning of these years since he left NBC,” the social source tells PEOPLE.

“Although he is always looking to see what he wants to do next, he is happy,” the source adds. “He and Shamin have had a nice life in the Hamptons. Each has separate interests, and they do a lot of things together. They are a happy couple.”

When he’s not in the Hamptons, Lauer and Abas “love” spending time in New Zealand, where he has had a home. Another source says that Matt has always loved Florida and would like to spend more time in the state. 

NBC fired Lauer in November 2017 after a former network employee, later identified as Brooke Nevils, reported that he sexually harassed her. Several other women came forward with similar accusations shortly thereafter.

Nevils went public in Ronan Farrow’s 2019 book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, allegding that Lauer raped her in his hotel room at the 2014 Sochi Olympics when she worked with NBC’s Meredith Vieira. Lauer has insisted all of his encounters were consensual.

Lauer laid low following his firing and was photographed for the first time following his ousting in October 2019 while grabbing breakfast in the Hamptons.