Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean steps down after 22 years

Janice Dean, senior meteorologist on the Fox News morning program Fox & Friends, is leaving the network after 22 years. She cited the effects of multiple sclerosis on her ability to manage the early-morning schedule. Dean, 56, posted a video message on X stating that lack of sleep and stress had worsened her symptoms.

"Ultimately, my symptoms progressed to the point that I can no longer continue working in my role," she said. The network released a statement confirming her departure. It noted her contributions and expressed support for her decision to step away.

Career and prior statements Dean joined Fox News after working as a disc jockey in Toronto and later as a news editor for radio host Don Imus. She wrote in her 2019 memoir that Imus once brandished a gun in the studio. In the same memoir, Dean described a meeting with former Fox News executive Roger Ailes in which he asked about her willingness to engage in phone sex.

She later said workplace conditions improved under the company's current leadership. Dean also became known for criticizing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after both of her husband's parents died of COVID-19 in a nursing home. She testified before a House subcommittee in 2020 about state policies that required nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients.

Dean has been absent from Fox News since November. In addition to her memoir, she has written a series of children's books featuring a character named Freddy the Frogcaster.