Former 'Today' Anchor Meredith Vieira's Husband Richard Cohen Dead at 76 After Living with Multiple Sclerosis for Over 50 Years
Cohen died on Christmas Eve surrounded by loved ones.
Jan. 7 2025, Published 9:48 a.m. ET
Meredith Vieira’s husband Richard Cohen has died at the age of 76.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the husband of the former TODAY anchor died on Christmas Eve after living with Multiple Sclerosis for over 50 years and surviving two cancer diagnoses.
Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie announced the devastating news on the show.
On January 7, Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie announced the devastating news on the show and said Cohen was "surrounded by his family and love" at the time of his death.
Cohen was also a three-time Emmy award-winning CBS News journalist, a former senior producer for CBS News and CNN, and also contributed to columns for The New York Times.
Guthrie said of Vieira after losing her husband: "She's in really good spirits. She was such a beautiful and devoted wife to Richard, and he adored Meredith.
"And hanging out with them, they were like the most fun and entertaining, irreverent, cool couple you could hang out with."
Cohen was diagnosed when he was just 25 years old.
Over the years, he was very vocal about his battle with MS and revealed he was diagnosed at a very young age in a past interview.
Back in 2018, he said while appearing on TODAY with Vieira: "I was diagnosed when I was 25 years old and essentially told there is no hope.
"Diagnosed and adios. Nothing much we can do."
He added: "I think too many people stay closed and don't tell the truth."
Cohen and Vieira were married 38 years and have three kids together – Lily, 32, and sons Gabriel 34, and Benjamin, 36.
In an interview with Yahoo Life, he revealed he told the former TODAY anchor about his diagnosis on their second date.
Cohen said: "I told her about the illness, because I sort of learned the hard way to get it on the table. And she really didn't blink."
Vieira told the outlet of the moment she was told: "I’ve always been of the school of thought that you could get hit by a bus the next day, any one of us could. It certainly wasn’t enough to scare me off."
Vieira stepped back from her gig on TODAY back in 2011 because she wanted to spend more time with family.
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After a very successful career in journalism, Vieira stepped back from her gig on TODAY back in 2011 because she wanted to spend more time focusing on her family.
She said: "Time is one of those weird things. You can never get enough of it, and it just keeps ticking away.
"And I know that I want to spend more of mine with my husband, Richard, and my kids."
