Inside MSNBC's secret plot to get rid of Joy Reid after her woke rants gave bosses 'heartburn'

Daily Mail​

25-04-2025

MSNBC's secret plot to get rid of its wokest star Joy Reid has been revealed two months after she was fired from the network.
The Reid Out star's regular social media rants 'gave the Standards Department heartburn,' an insider at the liberal network told Politico.
NBC News boss Cesar Conde and former MSNBC boss Rashida Jones began plotting to get rid of Reid in late 2023, it is claimed.
They attempted what Politico called 'severance in drag' by only offering Reid a one year contract extension, while also cutting her pay in the hopes she'd get the hint and quit.
But Reid - famed for her strident support of DEI and dislike of MAGA - did not take the hint and stayed on.
Jones left MSNBC earlier this year, with new boss Rebecca Kutler promptly firing Reid shortly after beginning her role.
She had the blessing of Mark Lazarus, who's the CEO of SpinCo, the name of MSNBC's new parent company after it was separated from NBC News and its parent Comcast.
While MSNBC has now shed its most progressive star, there's no suggestion the network is going to become less wing.
But bosses are said to have wanted to take a less inflammatory approach to covering politics as Donald Trump's second term as president gets under way.
MSNBC's two top execs fired Joy Reid in February after more than a year of pushback from its parent Comcast, according to a sprawling report from Politico. Fueled by insight from more than three dozen staffers, it describes how C-suiters had become fed-up with Reid's rants
New boss Rebecca Kutler did the honors with soon-to-be SpinCo CEO Mark Lazarus's seal of approval, according to a sprawling report from Politico
Described as 'unafraid to break things' by an old coworker and a 'fantastic leader' by a former rival, Kutler ruthlessly pulled the Reid Out from MSNBC's programming as part of a round of layoffs - again, days after taking the reigns.
Lazarus, meanwhile, was billed as more conservative than some of his progressive colleagues at the Peacock Network and SpinCo, the cable-channel-centered company set to part from Comcast.
'He could have a MAGA hat at home and we wouldn't know,' one MSNBC staffer interviewed for the feature said.
Lazarus is also said to have told staffers he doesn't think Republicans get a fair shake on MSNBC.
He's been at NBC since 2011, and previously held the prestigious position of chairman of NBCU's media group.
There, he oversaw the company's TV and Streaming platforms - well enough to earn the trust of those at Comcast to handle the ongoing split.
Humiliatingly, Reid's firing was leaked before she could announce it after a list of names of layoffs was left sitting atop a printer at MSNBC's Rockefeller Center HQ.
Among those upset was the network's star Rachel Maddow, who took to her show to rant at bosses for getting rid of Reid and other non-white stars.
Lazarus, meanwhile, was billed as more conservative than some of his progressive colleagues at the Peacock Network and SpinCo, the cable-channel-centered company set to part from Comcast.
That was after Lazarus handed Maddow a $5million paycut as one of her first moves upon taking his position.
She now earns 'just' $25 million a year.
While Maddow remains a ratings draw, her audience is older and her decision to bite the hand that feeds her is said to have raised rumblings of discontent inside MSNBC, according to Puck.
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is MSNBC's new star and is seen by some as a less entitled successor to Maddow as cable TV continues to shed viewers and profits slowly fizzle.
He and Kutler are hoping to transform what is widely viewed as a declining asset - MSNBC - as the flagship of a a growing startup, set to bring in money from streaming and other means aside from cable.
'We have the ability to transcend this linear cable box,' Kutler - the leader of programming for the failed exploit that was CNN+ - told Politico for the report.
'We have the ability to build things.'
Meanwhile, MSNBC - and many top talents - continued their move to another floor at 30 Rock, where SpinCo will soon be up and running later this year.