Valerie Hoff DeCarlo began her career in national broadcast journalism in the early 1990s. She joined CNN as a reporter and writer, eventually becoming a live‑anchor on CNN Headline News and appearing on the now‑closed CNN Airport Network. During that period, she built a professional reputation for versatility, handling coverage on a variety of topics including consumer, lifestyle, fashion, and financial news. In 1999, she left CNN for a position at the Atlanta NBC‑affiliate WXIA-TV (also known as 11Alive), where she worked as an anchor and consumer‑investigative reporter. Over nearly two decades at 11Alive, she became a familiar local‑news presence, praised by colleagues and viewers alike for her on‑air poise, persistence, and ability to connect with audiences on practical, human‑centered stories.
In April 2017, Hoff DeCarlo’s journalism career came to a sudden halt. While working for 11Alive, she privately messaged a Black social‑media user whose video she sought to license — a video purported to depict police violence. In that message, she used a racial slur, repeating the term the user had used to describe journalists in his public post. Although Hoff DeCarlo claimed she was referring to herself (and not the source) with the slur, once the private exchange was made public, it provoked a sharp backlash.
Initially, 11Alive suspended her for two weeks. Soon after, she resigned — what many described as a forced exit after a nearly 20‑year local‑news career. She later filed a wrongful‑termination lawsuit against the station; the dispute reportedly was settled out of court. The controversy overshadowed much of her previous work: the racial‑slur incident came to define her public legacy, marking the end of her mainstream broadcast journalism career.
After leaving 11Alive, Hoff DeCarlo largely stepped away from mainstream media. Some reports note she attempted to return to media via a personal blog and independent “citizen‑journalist” efforts, but those efforts faded and her online presence diminished over time. Outside of her professional life, she was married to Derrick DeCarlo, married in 2004, and had two sons — one adopted from Russia.
Her personal life also involved significant health challenges. She survived a breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, undergoing treatment and recovery, and later used her experience to inform reporting on health‑related stories. In 2024, she was diagnosed with stage‑4 lung cancer — a serious and ultimately fatal illness that she fought through with apparent courage and determination. Friends and family say she tried to maintain normalcy: even during treatment she remained focused on family — planning holidays, trying to stay involved in her children’s lives and cherishing time with loved ones.
In late November or early December 2025, Hoff DeCarlo passed away at the age of 62, her husband confirmed publicly. According to available reports, she died after a battle with lung cancer that had been diagnosed the previous year. Her death comes more than eight years after her departure from mainstream journalism. At the announcement, her husband described her as “a force with everything she did” — calling her “a strong, capable, loving woman and a wonderful mother.”
Her passing has triggered renewed public interest not only in the circumstances of her death but also in the arc of her life — the early prominence, the controversy, the private struggles, and the years away from the public eye.
Valerie Hoff DeCarlo’s story illustrates the complexities that come with a public‑facing career: early success, decades of work, personal trials, a public controversy, and later retreat into relative privacy. On one hand, she was remembered by many colleagues and viewers as a capable journalist — someone with empathy, hard work, and a keen interest in consumer issues and human‑interest stories. On the other hand, the 2017 incident raised serious questions about judgment, professionalism, and the consequences of private remarks being made public — a cautionary tale about how quickly decades of work can be overshadowed by a single mistake.
Her later years — marked by health struggles and a desire for personal normalcy — show a different dimension: a person trying to rebuild, to heal, to prioritize family, and to face terminal illness with dignity. The focus on her health journey, her family bonds, and her determination despite adversity complicates otherwise simplistic narratives of “fall from grace.” Some who knew her emphasized that beyond the controversy, she remained human: loving, flawed, striving.
Valerie Hoff DeCarlo’s life underscores several enduring themes relevant to public figures and journalism. First: in an age of instantaneous publication and social‑media scrutiny, private remarks — even in direct messages — can carry heavy consequences, erasing or overshadowing long careers. Her 2017 scandal is one of many examples of how quickly public trust can unravel.
Second: her post‑journalism years illustrate a reality often overlooked when a public figure “exits” — that life continues, with all its challenges, relationships, hopes, and regrets. Serious illness, family, attempts at redemption or privacy: these are the human dimensions behind headlines.
Finally: her passing is a reminder of mortality and fragility. Regardless of achievements or failures, health and time act as equalizers. In remembering her, one must balance both her professional contributions and her failings, but also acknowledge her humanity.
Valerie Hoff DeCarlo’s legacy — complicated, contested, but undeniably real — will likely spark continuing conversations about accountability, forgiveness, and how we regard public figures once their spotlight fades away.
