Matt Napolitano dead at age 33: Fox News radio anchor dies after health battle with heartbreaking tribute from husband
FOX News radio anchor Matt Napolitano has died at the age of 33 from a brief illness.
Napolitano died on Saturday, just two days before Christmas, his husband, Ricky Whitcomb, shared on an X, formerly Twitter, post.
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“With a heavy heart I have to share that my husband @MattNapolitano passed away yesterday morning,” a heartbroken Whitcomb revealed on Sunday.
“He loved his job and he loved bringing the news to your radios and televisions.
“An honest journalist who truly cared about facts. You can thank him for the last minute Jets win today.”
In a follow-up tweet, Whitcomb revealed his husband of seven months had an “autoimmune disease that he was diagnosed with almost 20 years ago and died as a result of an infection.”
Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott praised Napolitano for his contributions to the network and his work as a journalist.
“Matt did everything from anchoring to writing and producing for our audio platforms and loved being able to work in the journalism field that he trained for his entire life,” Scott said in a memo to Fox News employees.
Napolitano joined Fox News in 2015 as a writer for its Sirius XM channel, Fox News Headlines 24/7.
He quickly climbed up the ranks, becoming a sports reporter for the channel, covering the Super Bowl, World Series, Daytona 500, and other major sporting events.
Napolitano also made appearances on Neil Cavuto’s Fox Business Network show and was an avid Jeopardy! fan.
He was a contestant on the popular game show in 2020, achieving one of his lifelong dreams of being featured on the program.
After taking the online test in July 2018, he received a call to audition for the show and was asked to meet casting directors in New York City in September of that year.
Months passed, and he lost hope in ever being on the show until February 2020, when he was asked to fly to Los Angeles to be featured on a March 11 taping.
Napolitano said the show did not pay for the flight, but it was not a problem for him, telling the Long Island Herald: “I would’ve paid anything to be on the show.”
Napolitano is survived by his husband.
