TV host Meredith Vieira's husband Richard Cohen dies at 76 after 50 years living with multiple sclerosis

Richard Cohen, the husband of former Today anchor Meredith Vieira, has died at 76.

Cohen passed away on Christmas Eve after enduring multiple sclerosis for over 50 years and surviving cancer. 

Vieira and Cohen were married for 38 years and had three children together; they would have celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary in mid-2025.

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Richard Cohen, the husband of former Today anchor Meredith Vieira, has died at 76. (Getty)

News of his death was announced on the Today show, with host Hoda Kotb saying that he was "surrounded by his family and love" at the time of his death.

A veteran journalist for CBS News, Cohen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early 20s. 

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During a 2018 conversation with his wife on Today in 2018, Cohen said of his diagnosis: "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.

"Diagnosed and adios. Nothing much we can do." (Getty)

Cohen became a spokesperson for the condition, writing various books about his health and raising awareness for those living with a chronic illness. 

The star revealed he told his now-wife he had the chronic disease 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 recalled to Yahoo Life in 2019. "And she really didn't blink."

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Viera shared then: "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."

The couple tied the knot in 1986 and later welcomed sons Ben and Gabe and daughter Lily, though the condition cast a shadow on their love story.

The couple tied the knot in 1986 and later welcomed sons Ben and Gabe and daughter Lily. (Getty)

"I think that Richard was dealt a lousy hand. I get angry at that: Why should he have to go through all this? But I've seen what [adversity] does in terms of making you the person you are," Viera told Good Housekeeping in 2013. 

"I look at the kind of person Richard is and who the kids are. That's the result of what he's been through."

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