Phil Valentine, conservative radio host and vaccine skeptic, dies of COVID-19

Phil Valentine, a conservative radio talk show host who was a vaccine skeptic and disagreed with mask mandates up until he was diagnosed with COVID-19 last month, has died at age 61.

"We are saddened to report that our host and friend Phil Valentine has passed away," his station, SuperTalk 99.7 WTN, tweeted Saturday afternoon. "Please keep the Valentine family in your thoughts and prayers." Valentine, whose show first went on-air in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1995 and was eventually syndicated to several cities across the country, confirmed he was diagnosed with the coronavirus in a Facebook post on July 11, CBS affiliate WTVF-TV reports.