As a contributing reporter for media outlets from Vice and Vanity Fair to Rolling Stone and, most famously, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, New Jersey native Diana Falzone has written and presented her fair share of stories steeped in tragedy. Sadly, her own life, both the personal and professional sides, has endured plenty of hardships, too.
In fact, Falzone, who graduated with a psychology degree from New York City’s New School University, cut her teeth as a host for Sirius XM Indie and Maxim Radio, has often found herself in the headlines for reasons beyond her control. Indeed, over the years, the media journeywoman has been subjected to an abusive celebrity boyfriend, multiple medical issues, and a devastating familial loss, not to mention the inherently sexist machinations of the conservative news landscape. Here’s a look at nine difficult obstacles that the resilient Falzone has been forced to overcome during her career.
Diana had to file restraining order against Anthony Michael Hall
Diana Falzone had been dating Anthony Michael Hall for approximately a year when things took a turn for the dark. Indeed, in 2009, the Fox News host filed a restraining order against the Brat Pack star after claiming that she’d been attacked by him at her New York home.
According to Page Six, the incident — one of several sketchy things about Hall that no one knows about — occurred when the star paid Falzone a visit in the early hours of one particular morning. When she refused to let him in, the actor, who has often discussed his struggles with bipolar disorder, was said to have begun kicking the door down. And after she relented, the reporter had her head bashed against a wall. Falzone, who at the time was also working as a Huffington Post relationship columnist, was granted a temporary order by the Manhattan Family Court as a result.
Hall, best-known for his roles in 1980s films “Weird Science” and “The Breakfast Club,” had previously admitted to getting violent in his early years and in 2003, spent a night in a Vancouver hospital after suffering a psychotic episode while filming “The Dead Zone.” A spokesperson for the star insisted, “All of the allegations are erroneous and will be addressed accordingly.” Hall’s troubles didn’t end there, though, and in 2017, he was sentenced to three years’ probation following one count of assault.
Diana Falzone’s teenage years were plagued by mysterious pains
While Diana Falzone was eventually diagnosed with endometriosis in her late thirties, she actually started suffering from its symptoms in her teenage years. “It felt like a knife stabbing me over and over again in my abdomen; nausea and heavy bleeding followed,” she recalled about one particular flare-up in a piece for BuzzFeed. She was repeatedly told by medics that her pain was nothing out of the ordinary.
According to The Hill, Falzone once reflected on a particular appointment in which her often debilitating periods were dismissed with the words, “Well, that’s just how it is for some women … Some women have it harder than others.” Then, there was the doctor who, after hearing the youngster rate her pain at the very top of the 10-point scale, recommended little more than Advil and a heating pad.
Falzone also expanded on her adolescent troubles in an interview with EndoFound: “There were so many times I was sick as a little girl, having my period and not putting things together and being told by doctors, ‘Oh, you have ovarian cysts, and you just must have had one pop.’ The former Fox News host also revealed that her mother felt particularly guilty for not spotting the signs of her true illness early on, but Falzone only felt let down by professionals.
Diana Falzone was repeatedly dismissed by doctors
In 2016, Diana Falzone was putting in a shift at Fox News when she suddenly started to experience crippling period pain like she’d never felt before. In fact, the effects were so severe that she felt compelled to head for the closest emergency unit. But just as she had been in her teens, the psychology graduate wasn’t taken particularly seriously by medics.
Indeed, Falzone was told it was most likely she was suffering from an imbalance in hormones or from the flu. And even when she sought opinions from a second and then a third doctor, she was still made to feel like a hypochondriac. “It was beyond aggravating to be dismissed by medical practitioners, especially when I already felt physically weak and vulnerable,” she later recalled in a piece for Medium.
Still, Falzone refused to give up and eventually found a specialist who recognized that she was suffering from endometriosis. “Unfortunately, this is more common than you might think,” the New Jersey native acknowledged about the length of time it took for her to get the right diagnosis.
Diana Falzone had to undergo emergency surgery
Of course, Diana Falzone’s problems didn’t end when she finally received the correct diagnosis. After doctors discovered several lesions in the former Fox host’s uterus, she was forced to undergo surgery to remove them. And the operation didn’t exactly go as planned.
Indeed, during the four-hour procedure, surgeons discovered that the endometriosis had spread to several other areas, including her bladder, colon, and appendix, the latter of which had to be removed. “No one knows how you were even walking,” a nurse later told Falzone (via Dr. Seckin) about how bad her condition had got.
The former Maxim Radio host told EndoFound that during the immediate aftermath of her surgery, she started to worry that her agony hadn’t subsided. Luckily, after a few days, she felt the benefit: “That stabbing pain was leaving my body, but I still wasn’t 100 percent. I went back to work after ten days and had trouble walking and was hobbling around, but it’s that mentality of, ‘You just have to keep on keeping on.'”
Diana Falzone was told she was infertile
In 2017, Diana Falzone wrote a candid piece for Fox News revealing her struggles with endometriosis and how initially she believed it would impact her chances of conceiving. The reporter recalled hearing the news she was infertile shortly after turning 33 and subsequently broke down in tears.
Doctors later told Falzone there was a slim chance she could get pregnant if they were able to retrieve her remaining eggs via surgery. But she still had to spend a significant five-figure sum to see whether any would work using in vitro fertilization. Much to her relief, this process proved to be successful. In 2018, the former Sirius XM Indie host gave birth to a son named Alexander. “Could not be more thankful for my healthy, beautiful baby boy,” she captioned an Instagram photo of her newborn soon after fulfilling her goal of becoming a mom.
And Falzone was understandably still buzzing when she talked to The Blossom soon after. “To have him in my arms feels like a beautiful dream,” she gushed a week after welcoming Alexander into the world (via EndoFound). “My boyfriend and I are learning our baby, he’s learning us, but we’re doing pretty well.”
Diana Falzone suffered a postpartum hemorrhage
Diana Falzone must have hoped that her medical woes were far behind her following numerous surgical procedures for endometriosis and various rounds of IVF. But while giving birth to son Alexander, the former relationship columnist once again found her body was working against her.
Indeed, in the aftermath of her C-section, Falzone developed a condition known as uterine atony in which the uterus fails to contract as regularly as necessary, resulting in postpartum hemorrhage. “I ended up losing a lot of blood and needed two blood transfusions,” The New School graduate revealed to The Blossom (via EndoFound) about her latest scary experience.
Thankfully, Falzone made a full recovery and, within a week, was allowed to go home with her newborn. She subsequently offered some invaluable advice to any expectant moms: “If you ever feel ‘off’ after childbirth, be sure to speak up, complications do happen in this day and age.”
Diana Falzone was a victim of gender discrimination
“If you have symptoms of endometriosis, do not be afraid to advocate for yourself,” Diana Falzone wrote in her highly personal blog post for Fox News in 2017. “… The more we talk about women’s health issues, the sooner we will get to finding cures and better treatment options.” Unfortunately, her bosses didn’t appear to agree with the sentiment.
Indeed, just a few months later, Falzone sued the network for gender and disability discrimination, claiming that her role had since been significantly reduced because of her article. According to the psychology graduate, supervisor Refet Kaplan explicitly stated that she’d no longer be featured on either the website or on television within three days of being published. She was also barred from conducting any interviews or providing voiceovers. Instead, she was forced to spend her working days performing menial tasks far below her skill set.
“The issues raised in Diana Falzone’s lawsuit are a concern for all women,” the reporter’s attorney Nancy Erika Smith declared in a statement (via Time). “Fox News never banned her male counterparts who have discussed their personal health issues on air. Indeed, those men saw their careers advance.” In 2018, after Falzone had left the network, the case was settled for an undisclosed amount.
Fox News allegedly tried to quash Diana’s biggest scoop
Diana Falzone no doubt believed she had the scoop to end all scoops when she obtained evidence that Donald Trump, then in the middle of his 2016 presidential election campaign, had embarked on an extramarital affair with Stormy Daniels ten years earlier. Even more scandalously, his lawyer had also allegedly paid the former adult movie star (whose transformation is a staggering sight to see) hush money to cover it up. Unfortunately, the story that would have further boosted her journalistic credentials was quashed by the powers that be.
Indeed, hoping to guide “The Apprentice” star into the White House, Fox News head honcho Rupert Murdoch — who several years later delivered a scathing message to Trump — allegedly put a ban on this information being made public. “There isn’t much that I can say about the incident in Mayer’s story, because I am subject to an N.D.A,” Falzone admitted in a Vanity Fair piece once news of how she was silenced became public three years later.
Soon after, however, the New Jersey native revealed plans to tell all when she was issued a request to speak to the House Oversight Committee about the controversy. “No NDA can prevent anybody from participating in a government investigation,” reasoned her lawyer Nancy Erika Smith (via Politico). Of course, this was just the latest in a long line of scandals to have engulfed Fox News.
Diana Falzone’s father became a quadraplegic
During the Christmas period of 2021, Diana Falzone’s father, Robert, was rushed to the hospital after falling down the stairs at his family home in New Jersey. He broke his neck, and despite emergency surgery, was diagnosed as a quadriplegic.
“This was a crushing prognosis,” Diana admitted in a piece about the tragedy for TODAY. The former Fox News host went on to explain that her beloved dad spent weeks undergoing painful rehabilitation which had little impact on his condition before being allowed to go home. “He had returned to us, although not in the way we ever imagined or hoped for,” she noted about the bittersweet development. “He was bedridden. He required assistance 24/7.”
Sadly, within just a fortnight, Robert died at the age of 83. “I’m grateful for the lessons he taught me while he lived,” Diana wrote while concluding her emotive essay. “I’m forever transformed by the lessons he taught me through his dying — that life is finite. We are here to learn and evolve through our experiences on this Earth, and each day is precious but not promised.”
