MSNBC’s internal turmoil reached a fever pitch as host Rachel Maddow openly criticized the network for its decision to cancel Joy Reid’s primetime show, The ReidOut.
Maddow, the network’s highest-profile host, did not hold back, suggesting that MSNBC’s leadership was guilty of racial bias for its programming shakeup, which disproportionately affected minority hosts.
“Joy is not taking a different job in the network, she is leaving the network altogether. And that is very, very, very hard to take,” Maddow said Monday night. “I have had so many different kinds of jobs… But in all of the jobs I have had, in all of the years I have been alive, there is no colleague for whom I have had more affection and more respect than Joy Reid.”
“I love everything about her. I have learned so much from her. I have so much more to learn from her.” Maddow’s impassioned monologue continued as she criticized MSNBC for eliminating two of its nonwhite primetime hosts.
Maddow continued, “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.”
“I will tell you, it is also unnerving to see that, on a network where we’ve got two—count them, two—nonwhite hosts in primetime, both of our nonwhite hosts in primetime are losing their shows, as is Katie Phang on the weekend.”
“That feels worse than bad, no matter who replaces them. That feels indefensible, and I do not defend it.”
Watch:
Rachel Maddow: MSNBC is racist for firing Joy Reid
MSNBC: Remember that staff you had, Rachel? pic.twitter.com/T5ZGLb7S71
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) February 26, 2025
Reid’s departure comes amid a major shakeup at MSNBC as parent company Comcast restructures its cable assets, possibly in preparation for a sale. MSNBC has been struggling in the ratings battle, with The ReidOut suffering a 28% drop in viewership over the past month. The show frequently failed to attract more than 1 million viewers, a threshold that even struggling cable news programs attempt to maintain.
The network’s new president, Rebecca Kutler, is reportedly spearheading an aggressive restructuring, which includes replacing Reid’s show with a new panel format featuring former Bernie Sanders spokeswoman Symone Sanders, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez, the daughter of embattled Senator Bob Menendez.
Other MSNBC hosts are also facing the chopping block. Alex Wagner, who had been Maddow’s temporary replacement during her scaled-back schedule, will no longer host a primetime program. Meanwhile, MSNBC has been in talks to bring in Politico’s Eugene Daniels and NYU law professor Melissa Murray as potential new contributors.
Reid’s exit is just one part of a broader overhaul at MSNBC, which also saw the cancellation of shows hosted by Ayman Mohyeldin, Katie Phang, and Jonathan Capehart.
While Mohyeldin and Capehart are expected to remain with the network in new roles, Phang’s Miami-based show will be discontinued as MSNBC phases out its South Florida operations. According to reports, Phang will stay on as a legal correspondent. These cuts follow MSNBC’s trend of moving away from solo-hosted opinion shows and toward ensemble programs.
MSNBC’s troubles come as Comcast attempts to merge its news assets, including CNBC and MSNBC, into a separate publicly traded entity. This restructuring signals a shift in strategy as Comcast prepares to offload some of its struggling properties. The spin-off, expected to take about a year to complete, could reshape the network’s focus.
While Maddow remains a ratings powerhouse, it remains to be seen how her relationship with MSNBC executives will evolve after this very public condemnation.
