Chris Hayes announced in late summer 2025 he was stepping away from his role as an MSNBC host while his wife, Kate Shaw, battled cancer.
In August and September 2025, a rumor shared on social media claimed MSNBC host Chris Hayes announced he was stepping away from his role at the network to support his wife, Kate Shaw, in her battle with cancer.
One Facebook post (archived) that had garnered more than 50,000 likes at the time of
BRACING FOR THE WORST — Chris Hayes Steps Away from MSNBC to Stand Beside His Wife Kate Shaw in Her Battle with Cancer
In a moment filled with quiet heartbreak and quiet strength, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes has announced he will be stepping away from his nightly broadcast duties—not for scandal, not for politics, but for love.
The reason is deeply personal: his wife, legal scholar Kate Shaw, is battling cancer.
(The World Today on Facebook)
Similar versions of the rumor circulated elsewhere on Facebook (archived here and here). The posts included links in comments to advertisement-filled stories about Hayes’ alleged announcement of his departure due to his wife’s cancer diagnosis.
Snopes readers also searched our website wondering whether the claim was true.
However, the rumor about Hayes
A Google search also found no credible news media outlets reporting on the story, which would have been the case if Hayes really had made such an announcement.
Neither Hayes nor his wife, Kate Shaw, addressed his alleged departure or her supposed cancer diagnosis on their social media accounts, either.
While it’s unclear who authored the story, it’s part of a trend of false stories about celebrities and other prominent figures shared on social media. The story was seemingly written to generate advertising revenue for websites linked in the aforementioned Facebook posts.
Posts that shared the false rumor about Hayes linked out to articles published by several different websites, including one with a “USA News” logo. Websites with this same “USA News” logo previously published other false stories about MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.
The attached articles also showed signs that they were generated using artificial intelligence (AI). We pasted a portion of one of the articles’ text into GPTZero, an AI detection tool, which indicated it was “highly confident” that the content was AI-generated.
(GPTZero AI-detection tool)
Snopes frequently debunks fictional stories about TV hosts. For example, we investigated a rumor that Stephen Colbert, Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid launched a new newsroom. We also looked into a claim that actor Harrison Ford stormed off talk show “The View” after a clash with host Joy Behar.
Megan Loe
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