Who Was Meredith Vieira's Husband Richard Cohen? All About the Late Journalist and Their Decades-Long Romance (Which Started at CBS)

Mar. 15, 2025

Meredith Vieiraand her husband, Richard M. Cohen, were married for over 30 years until his death on Christmas Eve in 2024.

“I think that Richard was dealt a lousy hand," she toldGood Housekeepingin May 2013. “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. I look at the kind of person Richard is and who the kids are. That’s the result of what he’s been through.”

Meredith Vieira and husband Richard Cohen smile with their dog Jasper on NBC News' “Today” show.Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/ via Getty

Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/ via Getty

Vieira added, “I think about how his mother dealt with his dad, who also had MS. How great she was with him, and how loving and supportive. I took some cues from her: You live your life every day; it is what it is. I’m not saying it’s a cakewalk at all … But I don’t tend to go there, I just live every day.”

Meredith Vieira and husband Richard Cohen attend the 31st Daytime Emmy Awards on May 21, 2004 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.Robin Platzer/FilmMagic

Robin Platzer/FilmMagic

Cohen was also a best-selling author and wrote several books, including 2004’sBlindsided, 2008’sStrong at the Broken Places, 2012’sI Want to Kill the Dogand most recently, 2018’sChasing Hope.

He was diagnosed with MS at 25

Richard Cohen and Meredith Vieira on Nov. 9, 2012 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

At 25, Cohenwas diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that targets the central nervous system. He was the third member of his family to be diagnosed with the disease.

During an interview with PEOPLE in September 2019, Vieira opened up abouthow the pair coped with tough daysof illness.

“We definitely allow each other to vent,” she said. “That’s part of the deal. Certainly he’s allowed to vent, because he’s got chronic illness. But I am too. Because there are days I can’t stand it and the limitations it puts on the entire family. It’s good to say it. But we don’t dwell.”

Vieira also shared that she and Cohen used humor to deal with challenges. “Richard is a very funny person, and I have a good sense of humor,” she said. “So that’s sort of our thing.”

He and Vieira met while working forCBS Evening News

Meredith Vieira and her husband Richard M. Cohen attend the AARP Magazine 2009 Inspire Awards at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on December 8, 2008 in Washington, DC.Brendan Hoffman/Getty

Brendan Hoffman/Getty

In his bookChasing Hope, Cohen shared that he and Vieirafirst met while workingforCBS Evening News.

“It was contempt at first sight, as we both like to say. We tentatively circled each other, two-legged animals stalking their prey,” he wrote. “I once found Meredith lying on a couch in her office, watchingLooney Tunes. I immediately trashed her. Sarcasm is a wonderful mechanism for flirting.”

Vieira later revealed during a segment ofThe Meredith Vieira Showthat Cohen knew he would marry her even before they formally met.

“Richard heard my voice, he was in television too on the network side, and I was in local news, and he heard my voice coming through,” she said. “I obviously had some piece on local, and they had the monitors up, and he thought, ‘I’m going to marry that woman.’ ”

He and Vieira wed in 1986

Meredith Vieira and Richard Cohen during the National Multiple Sclerosis Society 27th Dinner of Champions at Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.Shane Gritzinger/FilmMagic

Shane Gritzinger/FilmMagic

“I had told her about the MS in the earliest days of our relationship because I wanted us to deal with the subject before we got too serious. She never inched,” he wrote. “We hiked and biked, traveled and jogged, wherever we went. We owned the world.”

They shared three children

Richard Cohen and Meredith Vieria smile with their children Lily, Ben and Gabe with their significant others in August 2018.Courtesy Meredith Vieira

Vieira and Cohen had three children together: sons Benjamin and Gabriel and daughter Lily.

During an interview withBrain and Life Magazinein July 2007, Cohen opened up about raising his children — who are now adults — while living with MS.

Cohen added, “When my older kid was going through the whole college process I went and looked at all the schools with him. It was stressful because it was hard to move around and everything, but I was glad to do it."

He died on Christmas Eve in 2024

Meredith Vieira and Richard Cohen appear on NBC News' “Today” show.Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC Newswire/ via Getty

After living with multiple sclerosis for over 50 years, Cohen died on Dec. 24, 2024.

Savannah Guthrieadded of Vieira, “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.”

source: people.com