Lidia Curanaj Biography: Age, Career, Husband, and Newsmax Journey

Lidia Curanaj is an Albanian-American journalist best known for her national television work at Newsmax and her earlier roles at Fox 5 (WNYW) and WABC 770 AM in New York. She rose from a Bronx upbringing as the daughter of Albanian immigrants to become one of the more visible Albanian-American faces in U.S. broadcast news. Her career includes a widely reported federal discrimination lawsuit against 21st Century Fox and years of political reporting on national television.

Curanaj’s story draws search interest for several reasons: her career path through CBS, Fox, WABC and Newsmax, her legal name change, and her decade-plus run as a New York broadcaster. She has also become known for a high-profile lawsuit that touched the Roger Ailes harassment scandal at Fox News. That combination of career achievement and public controversy is why so many readers search her name.

This article lays out what reliable sources confirm about her career, her legal case, and her current role — and is upfront about details, like her husband’s name and exact birth date, where public sources genuinely conflict.

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Lidia Curanaj Quick Facts

Who Is Lidia Curanaj?

Curanaj is a New York-based broadcast journalist known for two decades of local and national reporting. She has worked as a correspondent and journalist, including as a talk show host at Newsmax Media.

She has described herself as the first Albanian-American to enter U.S. television news reporting, a distinction repeated across multiple career profiles of her. Her Albanian heritage and Bronx upbringing are a recurring theme in coverage of her career.

Lidia Curanaj Early Life and Family

Curanaj was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, to Albanian immigrant parents, one of five children whose parents emphasized education and hard work. She attended private school and graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School before receiving a full scholarship to Iona College, where she studied mass communication and media studies, graduating summa cum laude from its honors program.

Court records connected to her later lawsuit confirm her legal name is Lidija Ujkic, and that “Lidia Curanaj” is the professional name she has used throughout her broadcasting career.

Lidia Curanaj Age

Public sources are not consistent on Curanaj’s exact birth date. Several biography sites list June 1, 1978, while at least one lists 1981. No primary, verifiable source (such as a public record or her own confirmed statement) was found to settle this discrepancy, so her precise current age should be treated as reported rather than confirmed.

Lidia Curanaj Career

Before her television career, Curanaj worked as a coordinating producer at CBS News alongside figures such as Ed Bradley, Bob Schieffer, and Dan Rather. She joined Fox 5 (WNYW) as a general assignment reporter in 2011, covering major stories including Hurricane Sandy.

She later worked as a news anchor at RNN Television and as a news reporter at DeSales Media Group. In March 2021, she joined WABC 770 AM as a news reporter and director. In January 2023, she announced on social media that she was leaving WABC Radio to join Newsmax for a nationally televised show.

Career Timeline

Career Highlights

• General assignment reporter covering major New York stories, including Hurricane Sandy
• News director at WABC 770 AM, a major New York radio station
• National anchor role at Newsmax since January 2023
• Multiple profiles describe her as an Emmy Award winner, though the specific award categories and years were not independently verified in this research

The Fox Discrimination Lawsuit

This is the most substantively documented part of Curanaj’s public record, covered by Newsweek, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Huffington Post at the time.

In November 2011, Curanaj accepted a freelance position as a reporter with Fox 5, after Fox News chairman Roger Ailes had interviewed her for a job at Fox News following a 2011 dinner meeting. During that process, Ailes told her it was important for female talent to “look good from head to toe” and asked her to stand and turn around for him.

The lawsuit alleged that Ailes later contacted a man Curanaj had previously dated to ask whether she would be sexually available, and that she was turned down for the Fox News position after the man indicated she likely would not. Curanaj alleged that after Byron Harmon became news director at Fox 5 in 2012, he told her she was passed over for a full-time position because she was “not attractive enough to be an anchor” and made disparaging comments about her ethnic background, reportedly calling her “Ms. Albania.”

She also alleged she was treated worse at the station after announcing her pregnancy in July of that year. The suit was filed against parent company 21st Century Fox, alleging gender, age, race, and pregnancy discrimination, and reduced work hours after she disclosed her pregnancy.

Evidence Check

Confirmed: Curanaj filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against 21st Century Fox in New York.
Source: Newsweek, The Huffington Post, The Hollywood Reporter (contemporaneous reporting, 2016–2017).
What It Shows: The suit alleged gender, age, race, and pregnancy discrimination, and detailed Curanaj’s account of interactions with Roger Ailes and a Fox 5 news director.
What Remains Unclear: Public reporting on the lawsuit’s ultimate resolution is limited; one source states she received part of a broader $10 million settlement covering multiple discrimination claims brought by Fox employees, though this was not independently cross-verified against a primary settlement document.

Fox Television Stations responded at the time that it did not believe the claims had merit and intended to defend the case vigorously.

Lidia Curanaj Husband

This is one of the least reliably documented areas of her public biography. Multiple low-quality biography sites give conflicting information: some name her husband “Victor” or “Viktor Curanaj,” describing him as a portrait photographer in Westchester County; others name him “Ed Curanaj,” describing him as a media-policy executive who attended Princeton and worked at Charter Communications and Cablevision.

Because these accounts directly contradict each other on the husband’s first name and profession, none of them meets a responsible confirmation standard. This article does not present either version as established fact.

Lidia Curanaj Net Worth and Salary

Estimates of Curanaj’s net worth vary widely across unofficial biography sites, ranging from roughly $500,000 to $1 million, with no primary source (tax filing, contract disclosure, or verified statement) behind any of these figures.

No reliable public salary figure specific to her Newsmax contract has been confirmed.

Is Lidia Curanaj Still on Newsmax?

Newsmax’s first-quarter 2026 financial results, reported in May 2026, show the network continuing normal operations with rising audience reach. Industry and casting records show Curanaj appearing as an anchor on Newsmax programming into 2023, and no reliable report was found indicating she has left the network. Based on available public information, she continues to be associated with Newsmax as a host/anchor, though readers should treat this as her last confirmed status rather than a guarantee of her current daily schedule.

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What Happened to Lidia Curanaj?

Readers searching this phrase are typically asking about her departure from Fox 5 and the subsequent lawsuit. The short answer: the lawsuit named Fox parent company 21st Century Fox and alleged a pattern of workplace discrimination, including pregnancy discrimination and retaliation, and attracted national media attention at the time. She subsequently moved into radio at WABC and then to Newsmax, continuing her broadcasting career rather than leaving the industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Lidia Curanaj’s real name?

Court documents from her Fox discrimination lawsuit confirm her legal name is Lidija Ujkic, with “Lidia Curanaj” used as her professional broadcasting name.

How old is Lidia Curanaj?

Public sources are inconsistent, most commonly citing a birth date of June 1, 1978, though this has not been independently confirmed through a primary record.

Is Lidia Curanaj still on Newsmax?

Based on available public information, she has been associated with Newsmax as a host/anchor since January 2023, with no reliable report found indicating she has since left the network.

What was the Lidia Curanaj lawsuit about?

She filed a federal lawsuit against 21st Century Fox alleging gender, age, race, and pregnancy discrimination, including allegations involving former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes.

Who is Lidia Curanaj’s husband?

Public sources conflict on this point, with some naming “Victor/Viktor Curanaj” and others “Ed Curanaj.” Neither has been reliably confirmed.

What is Lidia Curanaj’s net worth?

Unofficial estimates range from roughly $500,000 to $1 million, but no primary source confirms an exact figure.

Where did Lidia Curanaj go to college?

She attended Iona College on a full scholarship, studying mass communication and media studies, and graduated summa cum laude.

What network did Lidia Curanaj work for before Newsmax?

She was news director at WABC 770 AM in New York from March 2021 until she joined Newsmax in January 2023.

Conclusion

Lidia Curanaj’s public record combines a genuine, well-documented career arc — from CBS to Fox 5 to WABC radio to a national Newsmax role — with a legitimately newsworthy discrimination lawsuit that intersected with the broader Roger Ailes scandal at Fox News. Those elements are supported by contemporaneous reporting from established outlets.

Beyond her professional history, several personal details commonly repeated online — her exact birth date, her husband’s identity, and her net worth — are not consistently or reliably sourced. This article has flagged those points rather than presenting conflicting, unverified claims as settled fact.