Ex-CNN anchor who quit journalism after using N-word dies at 62

A disgraced CNN anchor who was ousted from the journalism industry after she used the N-word in a private exchange with a black source died at 62 last week after a battle with lung cancer.

Valerie Hoff DeCarlo served as an anchor on CNN from 1992 to 1999. After her stint at the left-wing mainstay, DeCarlo split between working as an anchor and consumer reporter at NBC-affiliate WXIA in Atlanta from 1999 to 2017, according to her LinkedIn.

While Hoff DeCarlo was chasing a potential story about racial and police violence in 2017, she referred to herself as a “news n—as” in a private message to a man who posted a video she was trying to investigate.

The man, who was black, had previously noted in a public post that many “news n—as” were trying to to get ahold of the video, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“If she is bold enough to say it to me being an African American then I’m pretty sure this isn’t the first time she has used that word,” the man told the outlet.

Hoff DeCarlo tried to explain that she was referring to herself as a “n—a.” The man, though, requested her manager or lawyer’s contact, and the situation spiraled from there as he posted the private messages online.

WXIA placed her on a two-week suspension before she ultimately resigned, the outlet reported.

Since then, Hoff DeCarlo quietly tried to find her way back into the industry as a citizen reporter through her own blog, which has since been deleted.

Hoff DeCarlo was a married mother of two sons. One of her children was adopted from Russia after she and her husband, Derrick DeCarlo, struggled with infertility, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote in her obituary.

She was best known for her work that melded with her personal life, including her family’s adoption journey and her battle with breast cancer in 2013.

She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2024. She was in the middle of organizing a cruise trip with her family weeks before her death and was also planning to host a Christmas party, close friends told the outlet.

“She was a force with everything she did. She was a strong, capable, loving woman and a wonderful mother,” her husband told the outlet.