Sean Hannity is never exactly out of the news. The FOX News host is usually reporting and opining about the latest happenings of the day. But he seldom becomes the story like he did last month. After a court proceeding, it was revealed that Hannity had retained Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen for legal services of his own. This was a big shock because Cohen’s main claim to fame is helping Trump pay hush money to his alleged mistresses. Is that why Hannity engaged the services of Cohen, too?
Stephen Colbert asked the question that was on everyone’s mind that night:
Hannity later explained that the legal work Cohen did for him was all about real estate advice. That’s a much less salacious option and probably a big relief to Mrs. Hannity.
That got us wondering, who is Sean Hannity’s wife? As big a name as Sean Hannity is, his wife, Jill Rhodes, keeps away from the spotlight. But we did some digging and here’s what we know about the woman behind the newsman.
1. She’s a Southerner,
Jill Rhodes is from Alabama originally. She attended the University of Alabama where she received a degree in journalism. After graduating, she went on to work in Huntsville, Alabama.
2. She’s a political journalist.
At the time she met her future husband, he was hosting a radio show at WVNN and she’s was a political columnist for the Huntsville Times. He would frequently call her up for story ideas to use on his show.
3. Their relationship started on the phone.
They had been speaking on the phone about work-related subjects for more than a year before they finally met in person. She attended a mayoral debate he was organizing in 1992 and she took one look at him and realized he was the man she was going to marry. By 1993, the two were married.
4. She worked in publishing.
The couple moved to New York for Sean’s career in the mid-1990s. Jill spent some time working for a book publisher in Manhattan at that time.
5. She’s stayed private even as he became famous.
Sean Hannity is, without a doubt, a household name in America. His public profile has grown from radio host to co-host of the popular Hannity and Colmes show on Fox New to hosting a flagship show on the cable news network. Jill, on the other hand, has stayed far out of the spotlight. She isn’t active on social media and she doesn’t make statements to the press. She doesn’t even have her own Wikipedia entry.
6. She’s kept her kids out of the spotlight, too.
The couple have two children together. Patrick was born in 1999 and Merri was born in 2002. Like their mom, they keep a low profile and don’t share in their father’s spotlight. If they have social media accounts (and what millennial doesn’t?), they’re kept totally private.
7. Jill stayed silent in the face of scandal before.
Back in 2017, a blogger named Debbie Schlussel alleged that Hannity had attempted to convince her to go back to his room after a Detroit book signing event. She made allegation about a pattern of creepy behavior from the TV host in the past. Hannity denied all of it saying, “the claims of misconduct are 100% false” and Stussel eventually dropped her allegations and eventually stated she was never sexually harassed by Hannity. Jill Rhodes never said a word to the press about the whole situation.
Rebekah Kuschmider is a DC area writer with a background in non-profit management and advocacy Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and is a contributor the book Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox . She is a cohost of the weekly political podcast The More Perfect Union.
