Meredith Vieira's Husband Richard Cohen Dead at 76 After Decades-Long MS Battle
Meredith Vieira, former anchor at Today, is mourning after her husband Richard Cohen passed away on Christmas Eve.
The news was shared by the Today show on Tuesday, January 7, relaying the message that he died following a battle with pneumonia.
He was 76.
Cohen was reportedly "surrounded by his family and love" when he died after enduring the lung infection for two months, the news host's representatives have confirmed.
The award-winning journalist had previously overcome cancer twice and reportedly battled with multiple sclerosis (MS) for over five decades after being diagnosed with the chronic disease over 50 years ago at the age of 25.
Vieira and Cohen married on June 14, 1986. They share three children together: Benjamin, 36, Gabriel, 34, and Lily, 32.
Savannah Guthrie — a fellow anchor at Today — gave insight to Vieira's emotional state, in addition to commending her on her lifelong commitment to her now late husband.
"She's in really good spirits," she stated, per The Daily Mail. "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 dished details to Yahoo Life about finding out he had MS, and recalled exactly how he broke the news to Vieira regarding his condition. "I dropped a coffeepot for no reason. I fell off a curb for no reason. I noticed a little numbness in my leg," he explained back in 2019, per the outlet.
"I sort of learned the hard way to get it on the table," he stated of their first date. "She didn't blink."
He continued: "You don't have to be controlled by it. I can give you a long list of things that I can't do anymore. You just sort of learn to accept that. I look at our three kids, I look at our relationship, I've written four books ... what do I have to complain about?"
Vieria left the Today morning show back in 2011 citing the prioritization of family as a key factor. She now hosts a gameshow, 25 Words or Less.
