A nerve injury suffered during training and the steroid medication used to treat it are behind the facial swelling and raspy voice that Fox News host Sean Hannity’s viewers noticed in recent broadcasts, the host said Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
Hannity, 64, one of Fox News’ longest-serving hosts, explained in a post on X that a pinched nerve in his neck had become painful enough to require prednisone, a corticosteroid that reduces inflammation but commonly causes fluid retention and puffiness in the face and throat.
“Thanks to everyone who has checked in,” Hannity wrote on X. “I’ve already addressed this several times on my radio show, but while training, I developed a painful pinched nerve in my neck.”
Social Media Commentary Spurred Public Statement
Speculation about the host’s health escalated after clips from his Tuesday night broadcast circulated widely online. An account called @BadFoxGraphics posted January and June screenshots side by side, asking whether Hannity was all right. Left-wing commentator Kyle Kulinski posted on X, asking why Hannity looked, in his phrasing, dramatically heavier and impaired.
Comedian Josh Johnson, a host on “The Daily Show,” also weighed in, joking on social media about Hannity’s visibly enlarged cheeks. The commentary spanned partisan lines, drawing responses from political opponents and concerned viewers alike.
Radio Broadcast Addressed Concerns Before X Post
By his own account, Hannity had already discussed the matter multiple times on “The Sean Hannity Show,” his weekday nationally syndicated radio program, before posting to X. On Monday, he asked frequent co-host Lynda McLaughlin whether his voice sounded improved, and she replied that America was relieved he was not suffering something more serious — a line that drew laughter.
During that same broadcast, Hannity explained that his physician had initially identified a sinus infection as the source of his laryngitis and had suggested he simply ride it out without medication. At that stage, Hannity said, he had been reluctant to start prednisone at all, describing it as medicine he did not want to take.
He eventually began the course of treatment, which resolved much of the inflammation but introduced the visible side effects that caught viewers’ attention by the time his Tuesday night show aired.
Steroid Produces Cosmetic Side Effects
Prednisone is a corticosteroid widely used to control inflammation, but it carries well-documented cosmetic side effects, including fluid retention that can cause noticeable swelling in the face and neck. Hannity acknowledged both, attributing his raspier voice and significantly puffier appearance directly to the drug rather than to any underlying condition.
He told his audience he was recovering well and had not stopped training, then capped the statement with a dry aside: that a few weeks on the medication had somehow attracted more attention than 30 years of ratings success.
Hannity also addressed critics who had expressed something more pointed than concern, writing that a pinched nerve, a raspy voice, and a puffy face were not, in his words, going to take him out anytime soon — including for those in what he called “the left-wing media” who had weighed in.
Tuesday Night Interview Drew Attention
The episode that drew the most attention featured Hannity interviewing Stephen Miller, senior Trump adviser and White House Deputy Chief of Staff, amid rising midterm tensions. Miller used the platform to sharply criticize Democratic candidates following progressive-backed victories in New York’s Democratic primaries on Tuesday, asserting that a vote for any Democrat empowered a party intent on dismantling the country’s security and way of life.
Hannity himself questioned how two ideological camps so far apart could ever be reconciled.
Hannity is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and hosts both a primetime Fox News program and a podcast that frequently features administration allies. He is among the network’s most recognizable and longest-tenured on-air personalities, and the combination of his prominence and his visibly changed appearance ensured the speculation about his health traveled quickly — well beyond his usual audience, before he finally addressed it directly.
