Former Today Show Anchor Meredith Vieira's Husband Richard Cohen Dies At 76

Richard Cohen, award-winning journalist and husband of broadcaster, television personality, and longtime "Today" show co-anchor Meredith Vieira, has died. As first reported by NBC's "Today," the 76-year-old and two-time cancer survivor, who also lived with multiple sclerosis for more than fifty years, died on December 24, 2024, following a bout with pneumonia. According to co-anchor Hoda Kotb, Cohen was "surrounded by his family and love," including Vieira and their three adult children: Benjamin, Gabriel, and Lily. 

Cohen was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an illness that wreaks havoc on the central nervous system, in 1973, when he was only 25 years old. Still, he didn't allow the disease to stop him from fulfilling both his professional and personal dreams. "Letting the disease get to you, letting it define you, putting up limitations even before they exist is all going to keep you down, to keep you from living the life you want to live," he told Brain&Life in 2007. 

Richard Cohen and Meredith Vieira first met in 1983 while both working for CBS. Cohen wasted zero time, revealing his multiple sclerosis diagnosis to Vieira on their second date. "I told her about the illness, because I sort of learned the hard way to get it on the table," he told Yahoo! Life in 2019. As he tells it, Vieira "didn't blink" about the revelation. The couple wed in 1986 and went on to have two sons and one daughter together. They were married for more than thirty years.

Cohen went on to author four books and win three Emmys for his work in journalism. As a result of his patient advocacy work, he was also the recipient of an hon­orary Doc­tor of Hu­mane Letters at New York's Mount Sinai Hos­pi­tal School of Med­i­cine, as well as the 2009 AARP In­spire Award. Ever the optimist, Cohen declared, "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?" RIP Richard Cohen.