A sex therapist and former Today show guest has come to Matt Lauer’s defense, corroborating his claim that she gave him a bag of sex toys.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Lauer’s former co-anchor Meredith Viera lightheartedly confronted Lauer about a bag of sex toys in his office when he appeared on her short-lived talk show, Meredith, years before the sexual misconduct allegations against him surfaced.

At the time, Lauer insisted that a sex therapist who appeared as a guest on the morning show gave the anchors as bag of sex toys as a gift. But Viera said she had no memory of this.

Dr. Laura Berman, a sex therapist who frequently appeared on the Today show, gave an interview to Inside Edition on Friday claiming that she did in fact give Lauer the sex toys — but because he asked her for help with his troubled marriage to Dutch model Annette Roque.

Berman said on Inside Edition that she gave the ousted co-anchor the sex aids after he confided in her about his marriage.

“We were in the makeup room and he sort of asked the makeup artist to leave,” Dr. Berman said.

“He asked me about sexual aids and devices. He confided in me about some of the struggles he was having in his married relationship.”

Dr. Berman reportedly said she feels okay about sharing the details of their conversation because Lauer wasn’t a patient of hers, and therefore she is not violating doctor-patient confidentiality. She also said that she personally selected sex toys for the high-profile anchor because he told her he was concerned about being spotted if he went out and purchased them himself.

“I brought him a shopping bag filled with toys from my line that were designed for couples, spicing things up,” Dr. Berman said.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Lauer and Roque have had trouble in the past. The Dutch model filed for divorce in 2006 while she was seven months pregnant, but withdrew the request before she gave birth. Page Six reported that the couple has been leading essentially separate lives for the last three years, with Lauer staying at the couple’s Manhattan apartment during the week while Roque spends most all of her time at their multimillion-dollar property in Sag Harbor, on Long Island.

NBC fired Lauer last week after a female staffer accused him of sexual harassment. Within a day of the announcement, both Variety and the New York Times published reports citing multiple sources accusing Lauer of harassment and abuse, including one woman who claimed he exposed herself to her in his office and then angrily reprimanded her when she refused his advances.

Lauer issued a brief statement of apology, but Roque has not spoken to the media since the news broke.

[Feature image: Associated Press]