Meredith Vieira’s Husband Richard Cohen Dead: ‘Today’ Alum’s Spouse Battled Multiple Sclerosis for Decades

Meredith Vieira’s husband, Richard Cohen, has died. The announcement was made during an episode of Today on Tuesday, January 7.

Hoda Kotb said that Cohen was “surrounded by his family and love” at the time of his passing.

During the broadcast, Savannah Guthrie shared that Vieira is “in really good spirits.”

“She was such a beautiful and devoted wife to Richard and he adored Meredith,” she said. “And hanging out with them, they were like the most fun and entertaining, irreverent, cool couple you could hang out with.”

Savannah Guthrie Shows Support for Richard Engel After His Son’s Death

Vieira and Cohen got married in 1986. They welcomed three kids together: Ben, Gabe and Lily. Cohen’s family was grateful that they got to spend one last holiday season with him. Kotb said around Thanksgiving, the family was initially “concerned they were going to lose him early. Instead, they got a glorious month with their dad.”

Cohen was 25 when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He revealed his diagnosis to Vieira on their second date.

“My father had MS, as did his mother,” he told Yahoo Lifestyle in March 2019. “It was already a family illness.”

He recalled his experience with his symptoms prior to his diagnosis.

“I dropped a coffeepot for no reason. I fell off a curb for no reason. I noticed a little numbness in my leg,” he said. “It hit my eyesight fairly quickly, but other than that, I was very active physically and I thought I was really beating it. I was living in denial.”

Cohen hoped that speaking out about the chronic disease would help newly diagnosed people manage their illness for the rest of their lives.

“You don’t have to be controlled by it,” he told the outlet at the time. “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?”

Morgan Fairchild Announces Death of Her Longtime Partner Mark Seiler

In his 2018 memoir, Chasing Hope: A Patient’s Deep Dive into Stem Cells, Faith, and the Future, Cohen explained how his diagnosis impacted his entire family.

“Chronic illness is a family affair. Spouses have the burden of tending to the needs of a loved one, even when they would secretly rather push him out a window,” he penned. “I knew they should not be treated as spectators when they are in the ring with us.”

In November 2021, Cohen opened up once more about his condition.

“Sometimes, family and friends suggest that I cut myself slack and sit. I don’t think so. I am fighting to stay on my feet,” he said. “Every time I agree to sit in a wheelchair, I think I am losing ground. It is psychological. I believe staying on my feet, even stumbling along, toughens me and keeps me going. I regularly get up from the computer and just stand. If I can make it for five or six minutes, that is a victory. It is small, but I take what I can get.”