Fox News host Sean Hannity told his audience on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, what had been behind the facial swelling and raspy voice viewers had been picking up on air that month: a nerve injury he suffered while training — likely his martial arts practice — and the steroid medication prescribed to treat it.
Writing on X, Hannity, 64, one of Fox News’ longest-serving hosts, said a pinched nerve in his neck had grown painful enough to require prednisone. The corticosteroid 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
What pushed the host into a public statement was the online churn that followed clips from his June 23, 2026 broadcast, which spread widely. An account called @BadFoxGraphics placed January and June screenshots side by side and asked whether Hannity was all right. Left-wing commentator Kyle Kulinski also posted on X: “Why does Sean Hannity look like he’s drunk, high on Percocet and 60 lbs heavier?”
Comedian Josh Johnson, a host on “The Daily Show,” joined in as well, joking in his June 23, 2026, monologue about the host’s visibly enlarged cheeks. Political opponents and worried viewers alike responded, and the commentary spanned partisan lines.
Radio Broadcast Addressed Concerns Before X Post
The X post was not his first pass at the subject. By his own account, Hannity had raised it multiple times on “The Sean Hannity Show,” his weekday nationally syndicated radio program. On Monday, June 22, 2026, he asked frequent co-host Lynda McLaughlin whether his voice sounded improved. “I am, and I think America is excited that you’re not dying of a stroke,” she replied, drawing laughter.
The version he gave listeners on that broadcast differed slightly from the one he would post two days later. On the radio, he said a bad sinus infection had led to the laryngitis, and that he had been reluctant to start prednisone at all, calling it “this crappy medicine.” His X post put it the other way around, describing the drug as what “led to laryngitis and some puffiness, which is normal for this medication.”
He did eventually start the course of treatment. Much of the inflammation cleared, but the visible side effects it brought on were what caught viewers’ attention by the time his June 23 show aired.
Steroid Produces Cosmetic Side Effects
Doctors reach for prednisone routinely to control inflammation, though the corticosteroid comes with well-documented cosmetic side effects, among them fluid retention that can produce noticeable swelling in the face and neck. Hannity acknowledged both, pinning his raspier voice and significantly puffier appearance on the drug rather than on any underlying condition.
His recovery was going well, he told his audience, and he had not stopped training. He finished with a dry aside: a few weeks on the medication had somehow drawn more attention than 30 years of ratings success.
Not everyone who chimed in had been expressing concern, and Hannity had a line for them, too. 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 he called “the left-wing media.”
The Interview That Drew Attention
The episode that got the most notice was an interview with Stephen Miller, senior Trump adviser and White House deputy chief of staff, taped amid rising midterm tensions. The day before, on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had swept New York’s Democratic House primaries, and Miller used the platform for a sharp attack on the party, asserting that a vote for any Democrat empowered a party intent on dismantling the country’s security and way of life.
For his part, Hannity questioned how two ideological camps so far apart could ever be reconciled.
A staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, Hannity hosts a prime-time Fox News program along with a podcast that frequently features administration allies. He also ranks among the network’s most recognizable and longest-tenured on-air personalities — a profile that, paired with his visibly changed appearance, sent the speculation about his health racing well beyond his usual audience before he finally addressed it directly.
Where Hannity Stands Now
Two months on, the subject has gone quiet. Hannity has not returned to his health on air or online, and neither he nor Fox News has said anything further about it. His 9 p.m. slot has been his throughout, and the audience has stayed with him: “Hannity” averaged 2.55 million viewers in July 2026, fourth among cable news programs, in a month Fox News led the category.
So have the combative interviews. Chris Rabb, a Democratic socialist congressional candidate and a Pennsylvania state representative running in the state’s 3rd District, opened his August 5, 2026 appearance by thanking the host as “Scott.” “My name is not Scott. My name is Sean, but that’s okay,” Hannity replied. On August 13, 2026, the host cut off former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio mid-answer as de Blasio defended Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson, closing the segment with, “Alright, I gotta go” — a moment critics seized on online.
Scrutiny of a different kind has followed his war coverage. Hannity interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 28, 2026, then let roughly three weeks pass without an extended segment on the Iran war — a stretch in which the liberal watchdog group Media Matters counted 46 minutes of WNBA coverage across 11 segments on his program. He came back to the topic on August 19, 2026. “By the way, it never gets credit — Iran will never have a nuclear weapon thanks to Donald Trump,” he said. “Does anyone ever give him credit for that?”