‘GUTWRENCHING’

33-Year-Old Fox News Radio Anchor Dies After Short Illness

Matt Napolitano battled autoimmune disease for nearly 20 years before passing away from an infection just before Christmas, his husband said.

Fox News Radio anchor and sports reporter Matt Napolitano passed away last week at the age of 33, his husband Ricky Whitcomb said on social media over the weekend.

“With a heavy heart I have to share that my husband @MattNapolitano passed away yesterday morning,” Whitcomb shared in a Christmas Eve tweet. “He loved his job and he loved bringing the news to your radios and televisions.”

Reacting to social media users who were attempting to tie Napolitano’s death to vaccinations, Whitcomb noted that his husband had been living with an autoimmune disease for nearly 20 years and died following a recent infection.

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott shared the news of Napolitano’s sudden passing with employees in a Dec. 24 memo. “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,” she wrote.

Beginning his Fox News career in 2015 as a writer for the network’s SiriusXM channel Fox News Headlines 24/7, Napolitano soon moved on to sports reporting for the service. Before long, he joined Fox News Audio as an anchor and reporter, a position that eventually led to him reporting on sports stories on Neil Cavuto’s Fox Business and Fox News programs.

Earlier this fall, Napolitano appeared on Cavuto Live to discuss Taylor Swift’s impact on the NFL, which included a surge in ticket sales when the pop star showed up to watch her beau Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs take on Napolitano's beloved New York Jets.

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“Now you have NBC using ‘Welcome to New York’ in their commercials, calling it a Taylor-made Sunday night matchup, it’s all working out in favor of the league latching on to the marketing and the phenomenon that is Taylor Swift and the crazed fan base,” Napolitano said during his Sept. 30 appearance on Cavuto’s show. “And I say that with so much love because I’m married to a Swiftie.”

Scott also pointed out in her memo that Napolitano also “showed off his talent outside the studio,” finishing as a runner-up on the game show Jeopardy! and making it to the bonus round on an episode of Wheel of Fortune.

Following his sudden passing, online tributes came pouring in for Napolitano, describing him as a wonderful colleague and friend with a wonderful sense of humor.

“I’m stunned and so very sad to learn of the death of our @foxnewsradio colleague, @MattNapolitano,” Fox News pundit Guy Benson tweeted. “He was a great guy & appeared on the show numerous times, typically talking sports. 33 years old. My gosh. My prayers go to his family. Gutwrenching. I can’t believe it. RIP.”

In its obituary of Napolitano, LGBTQ sports publication OutSports wrote: “Napolitano didn’t lead his public life with being gay, and he didn’t shy away from it, marrying the love of his life, Whitcomb, earlier this year and sharing pro-LGBTQ messages on social media.”

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Justin BaragonaSenior Media Reporter

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