16 Facts About Shepard Smith

Shepard Smith served as chief general news anchor and host of The News with Shepard Smith on CNBC, a daily evening newscast launched in late September 2020; but his program was cancelled in November 2022.

Shepard Smith studied journalism at the University of Mississippi, where he left two credits shy of a degree to take a reporter job in Panama City, Florida.

Shepard Smith delivered the university's 155th commencement address on May 10,2008.

Shepard Smith began his career in television with WCJB-TV in Gainesville, Florida, and then with WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Florida.

At Fox News, Shepard Smith reported on the death of Princess Diana in 1997, President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment trial, the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, the 2001 execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.

In 2003, The Fox Report with Shepard Smith was ranked third among the top five US cable news programs, and Smith tied for second with Dan Rather and Peter Jennings as the most-trusted news anchor on both network and cable news.

Shepard Smith renewed his contract with Fox on October 26,2010, for another three years.

In November 2017, Shepard Smith infuriated some Fox News viewers when he countered the Uranium One conspiracy theory, which claims that the Obama administration intervened corruptly in a deal allowing a Russian company to buy Uranium One, a Canadian company with uranium mining interests in the US in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation.

Shepard Smith's reporting put him at odds with colleague and Fox News prime time host Sean Hannity, who had supported the claim against Hillary Clinton.

On October 11,2019, he announced on Shepard Smith Reporting that he was leaving the network.

On July 8,2020, the business and economic news network CNBC announced Shepard Smith would join the network as chief general news anchor and chief general breaking news anchor.

Shepard Smith's program was cancelled in November 2022 and he left CNBC that month.

At the event, Shepard Smith gave $500,000 to the host organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Additionally, archive footage of Smith anchoring Shepard Smith Reporting covering the 2016 US presidential election was used in the 2019 docudrama Bombshell.

Shepard Smith married Virginia Donald, a University of Mississippi classmate, in 1987.

In 2017, Shepard Smith publicly announced he is gay and has a long-time boyfriend.