Dr. Rachel Danis has broken her silence to defend her marriage to Patrick Clancy against what she calls a “twisted” narrative.
Danis, who wed Clancy in April, sat down with him for a joint interview with 60 Minutes that is scheduled to air Sunday, September 20 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. The infertility specialist used the platform to push back against months of online speculation about the couple’s relationship.
“I don’t understand how the story has been so twisted,” Danis said in a clip of the interview shared on X.
The social media attacks began after Clancy, the father of three children killed by his ex-wife Lindsay Clancy in January 2023, revealed he had remarried. Commenters had accused the couple of everything from having an affair to somehow being involved in the children’s deaths themselves.
“But I would hope people know that Pat is, as I said before, the most selfless father, and supportive partner,” Danis added in the X clip.
The couple’s meeting was far more ordinary than conspiracy theorists suggested. “I was just a girl that met a guy running in Central Park on a really cold Saturday,” Danis claimed. “And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
This marked the first time Patrick Clancy himself had spoken publicly about the new relationship since the online allegations erupted. In the interview, correspondent Ross Douthat pressed him on how he has processed the loss of his children.
Patrick revealed that he still speaks to them regularly. He told Douthat he “talks to” his children “all the time” and asks them to “help” him since their deaths.
The online campaign against Patrick had grown severe enough that his attorney, Howard Cooper of Todd & Weld, issued a forceful statement. Cooper described what Patrick and his family had endured as “a relentless, escalating and destructive defamation campaign.”
“This campaign of misinformation has been launched and promoted by minor celebrities, so-called influencers and outright conspiracy theorists who appear intent on boosting their own social media profiles and potential profit by publishing what they know to be outright falsehoods that Patrick was somehow involved in the death of his young children and other vile claims,” Cooper said.
Cooper made clear that the family had reached a breaking point. He said “enough is enough,” noting that the “baseless falsehoods” had been handed over to police. Patrick had been receiving “real life threats to his reputation, livelihood, and life,” the attorney added.
Lindsay Clancy, 37, had pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder by reason of diminished responsibility by way of insanity. She did not deny killing five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan in their Duxbury, Massachusetts home. Her attorneys argued she had been suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time. Throughout the proceedings, Patrick had publicly defended her character, describing her as a dedicated mother before the killings. The jury deadlocked last month, resulting in a mistrial after they could not reach a unanimous verdict on her guilt.
The 60 Minutes interview represents a significant shift in strategy for a couple who had previously stayed silent as the trial dominated headlines.
Danis’s decision to speak carries particular weight given her professional standing as a physician specializing in infertility. Her characterization of Patrick as “the most selfless father” directly confronts the narrative that he had moved on too quickly or callously from his children’s deaths.