The Tragic Real-Life Story Of Carson Daly
Lifestyle News
By TANVI AKHAURI
His Father Died
When Carson Daly was five years old, his father, James Daly, died of bladder cancer. In 2020, the COVID-19 quarantine created an opportunity to find closure.
In an emotionally charged endeavor, Daly recreated a vintage photo of his father, using a green screen and wearing the purple UCLA jacket his father wore in the original picture.
Anxiety
Daly has emerged as a leading voice on mental health and the normalization of therapy, describing life as a public figure prone to panic attacks even when on air.
He includes cognitive behavioral therapy as part of his self-care routine for generalized anxiety disorder and talks freely about anxiety to destigmatize his condition.
Woodstock '99
In a 2022 Netflix documentary, Daly recalled his experience covering the Woodstock ‘99 festival, citing, "All I can say is I thought I was going to die."
Daly recalled "getting pelted with bottles, rocks, lighters, all of it" as the crowds got out of control, and he had to be raced out of the festival as it progressively worsened.
Break Up
Daly dated actress Jennifer Love Hewitt in the late 1990s for about a year. He was humiliated by shock jock Howard Stern announcing their break up on the radio.
"If we were going to break up officially like this, maybe we could have just talked about it. I don't see why you had to tell your publicist," Daly recalled telling his ex.
Parents
In 2017, Daly's mom, Pattie Daly Caruso, died at her California home in September after a heart attack, and five weeks later, his stepfather Richard Caruso died of cancer.
Daly was exceptionally close to his parents, including his stepfather, whom he honored as "the greatest man we ever knew" in a touching tribute on Instagram.