Maury Povich Reveals Frustration Over New York Times Obituary Policy: 'I Want to See It Before I Die'

Maury Povich, the iconic former tabloid talk-show host, is alive and well at 87. Yet he has spent years preparing for the inevitable by collaborating with a New York Times writer to craft his obituary. The process, however, left him deeply frustrated.

"I get a call from the New York Times about four or five years ago, and this guy who I find out later on is a terrific writer is calling me because they want to write my obit," Povich said Friday on the Founder’s Story podcast with host Daniel Robbins. "And I went, ‘Oh, wow. This is interesting.’ So, I’ve spent the last couple of years talking to the New York Times about my obituary, which is written."

Povich’s frustration peaked when he made a simple request: to see the obituary before publication. That request was denied.

"The only thing I’ve got very pissed off about was I finally asked the writer, ‘How about can I see it? Can I see my obit? I would love to see my obit,’" Povich continued. "He said, ‘We can’t show you that. Are you kidding me? This is the New York Times. We don’t show people what we write.’ I said, ‘Does that mean I’m going to have to read about it after I die?’"

For decades, media outlets have pre-written obituaries for notable figures, sometimes even publishing them prematurely—just ask Abe Vigoda. Povich, however, would welcome the opportunity to review his own obituary in advance.

"You know what I said to myself?" he recounted. "‘Well, then if that’s the case, let’s have the funeral right now so that everybody can stand up and say all these things about me and I can listen.’"

The New York Times defended its policy in a statement to Entertainment Weekly:

Times obituaries are written by Times journalists. Our writers research and report the full lives of the subjects of obituaries, but they are only finalized and published after the subjects are deceased.

Povich, best known for his long-running syndicated show Maury, which aired for over 30 seasons before his retirement from daytime TV, now hosts the podcast On Par With Maury Povich.

Reflecting on his legacy, Povich credited his show with shaping modern reality television:

• "There is no doubt that our shows in the ’90s and early 2000s spawned all the ‘Housewives’ shows,"
• "all the Kardashians,"
• "any kind of reality show now on cable was all sparked by our shows."