A former CNN anchor who was booted out of the journalism industry after using the N-word during a private conversation with a Black source has died at the age of 62 following a long and difficult battle with lung cancer. Valerie Hoff DeCarlo worked as an anchor at CNN from 1992 to 1999.
After leaving the network, she spent several years in Atlanta, where she split her time between anchoring and serving as a consumer reporter at NBC affiliate WXIA from 1999 through 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile. In 2017, Hoff DeCarlo was chasing a possible story that involved race and police violence when the infamous racist incident happened.
Infamously Famous
Hoff DeCarlo used the phrase "news n—as" to describe herself in a private message to the man who had posted the video she wanted to investigate. The man — who is Black — had earlier written publicly that several "news n—as" were trying to contact him about the footage, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"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 clarify that she had been referring to herself in the private message. However, the man asked for her manager or lawyer's contact, and the situation quickly escalated when he shared the messages publicly.
WXIA suspended her for two weeks, and she eventually resigned, the outlet reported. Afterward, Hoff DeCarlo quietly tried to re-enter journalism as a citizen reporter through her personal blog, which has since been taken down.
End of Her Career
Hoff DeCarlo was a married mother of two sons. According to her obituary in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one of her children was adopted from Russia after she and her husband, Derrick DeCarlo, faced challenges with infertility.
She was widely known for sharing her personal experiences alongside her professional work, including her family's adoption journey and her own battle with breast cancer in 2013.
She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2024. In the weeks before her passing, she was busy planning a family cruise and organizing 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.
