Rachel Maddow calls Joy Reid’s MSNBC firing a ‘mistake.’ Who’s in, who’s out at the cable TV network amid shake-up. | HO
“The Katie Phang Show” and “Alex Wagner Tonight” are also ending, while “Inside With Jen Psaki” expands.
Rachel Maddow expressed disappointment over Joy Reid’s MSNBC exit. (Getty Images)
It’s a time of turmoil at MSNBC.
Rachel Maddow ripped into her network on her Feb. 24 show over the announcement that her colleague Joy Reid had been abruptly ousted.
“I have learned so much from her,” The Rachel Maddow Show host told viewers of Reid. “I have so much more to learn from her. I do not want to lose her as a colleague here at MSNBC, and personally, I think it is a bad mistake to let her walk out the door. It is not my call, and I understand that, but that’s what I think.”
It’s a bold move to criticize the brass, but there have been a lot of shake-ups at the cable TV news network. Comcast announced in November that MSNBC would be spun off into a new company apart from NBC News. Earlier this month, Rebecca Kutler was named president of MSNBC after her interim role had been made permanent.
In addition to The ReidOut ending, announced Feb. 23 and taking effect Feb. 24, shows helmed by Katie Phang and Alex Wagner were cut from MSNBC’s lineup. Jen Psaki’s show will get a boost, going from two days a week to four.
These aren’t the only shake-ups in TV news. On Feb. 24, Lester Holt announced he was leaving NBC Nightly News after hosting for a decade. He’ll sign off this summer but remain on as anchor of NBC News’ Dateline. In January, Hoda Kotb departed as co-anchor of NBC’s Today show. In December, Fox News’ Neil Cavuto signed off after 28 years on the network.
Here are the changes at MSNBC.
What’s out?
The ReidOut: It was announced on Feb. 23 that Reid was leaving the network, after five years in the MSNBC lineup. Reid shed tears in an interview discussing her exit, saying she’s been “through every emotion, from anger, rage, disappointment, hurt … feeling guilt that I let my team lose their jobs.”
While the final episode of The ReidOut, which aired weeknights at 7 p.m., had been planned for sometime this week, it took place on Feb. 24, a day later. Reid — who became the only Black woman to host a daily prime-time cable news program when she was hired in 2020 — used her final episode to call on viewers to resist amid President Trump’s presidency. Trump lashed out at Reid, calling her a “mentally obnoxious racist” who “should have been ‘canned’ long ago along with everyone else who works” at MSNBC. Maddow blasted her network over her colleague’s departure.
The Katie Phang Show: After three years, the show airing Saturdays has been canceled and will air its final episode in April. Phang said she was “stunned” by the news, which Maddow also criticized, calling it “unnerving” for the network to cancel the shows of “two non-white hosts.” Phang will remain with the network as a legal correspondent.
Alex Wagner Tonight: After three years, the show that filled Maddow’s 9 p.m. time slot on Tuesday through Friday is ending. Wagner’s part-time show has been back-burnered since January, when Maddow returned to MSNBC five nights a week (from her typical Mondays) to cover Trump’s early days in office. Wagner will remain with the network as a correspondent.
What’s in — or changing?
TBD show with Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez: The trio, who currently host a show titled The Weekend, will take over Reid’s 7 p.m. spot starting in April. Until then, Reid’s time slot will be helmed by a rotating group of hosts.
The Rachel Maddow Show: The program will go back to airing once a week starting in April. Maddow adopted that schedule in 2022 but increased her show to five days starting in January to cover Trump’s first 100 days in office.
Inside With Jen Psaki: The program, which airs on Sunday and Monday, will take over Alex Wagner’s time slot, Tuesday to Friday at 9 p.m., complementing Maddow’s show. Kutler said that former President Joe Biden’s former White House press secretary has been “a crucial and trusted voice” since she joined the network in 2022 and debuted her show in 2023.
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