MSNBC host Rachel Maddow rips own network for axing Joy Reid’s show and other ‘non-white’ hosts’ programs

Rachel Maddow slams network for canceling Joy Reid’s show and other programs hosted by non-white anchorsRachel Maddow slams network for canceling Joy Reid’s show and other programs hosted by non-white anchors

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow eviscerated her own network Monday night for dumping left-wing firebrand Joy Reid and canceling the shows of other hosts who aren’t white in a major cable shakeup.

Maddow, during her eponymous show, called Reid’s ouster a “bad mistake” as she also stood up for behind-the-scenes staff across the network who are also at risk of losing their jobs and being forced to apply for new positions if they want to stick with MSNBC.

Arguably the face of the ratings-challenged network, the 51-year-old commentator didn’t hold back from addressing the elephant in the room.

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MSNBC host Rachel Maddow eviscerated her own network Monday night for dumping left-wing firebrand Joy Reid and canceling the shows of other hosts who aren’t white in a major cable shakeup.MSNBC
“I love everything about her. I have learned so much from her. I have so much more to learn from her,” Maddow said of Reid.

“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.”

Leading up to Maddow’s monologue, “The ReidOut” put on its final program Monday evening in which Reid, 56, received a hero’s sendoff from other colleagues, including Maddow.

Reid’s departure isn’t the only change coming to MSNBC under new president Rebecca Kutler.

Alex Wagner, who was supposed to handle the 9 p.m. hour Tuesdays through Fridays after Maddow scaled back to only hosting Mondays, was replaced by former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

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Arguably the face of the ratings-challenged network, the 51-year-old commentator didn’t hold back from addressing the elephant in the room.MSNBC
A series of weekend hosts are also having their shows canceled.

“It is also unnerving to see on a network where we’ve got two, count ‘em, two non-white hosts in primetime, both of our non-white hosts in primetime are losing their shows, as is Katie Phang on the weekend,” Maddow said. “And that feels worse than bad no matter who replaces them, that feels indefensible and I do not defend it.”

Reid is part Congolese and Guyanese, while Wagner is part Burmese and Phang is South Korean. Wagner and Phang are expected to stay with the network and work in different roles.

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Leading up to Maddow’s monologue, “The ReidOut” put on its final program Monday evening in which Reid, 56, received a hero’s sendoff from other colleagues, including Maddow.MSNBC
“The Weekend” co-hosts Michael Steele, Symone Sanders-Townsend — who are both black — and Alicia Menendez, who has Cuban ancestry, will replace Reid’s show starting in April.

But Maddow wasn’t done yet, seemingly calling out new leadership at the network after it was revealed that staffers of canceled shows would need to apply for other jobs at MSNBC to hang on rather than automatically get moved to a new slot.

She said dozens of producers and other off-camera workers are “being put through the wringer” and facing the possibility of being laid off.

“They’re being invited to reapply for new jobs — that has never happened at this scale, in this way before when it comes to programming changes presumably because it’s not the right way to treat people,” Maddow said. “And it’s inefficient and it’s unnecessary and it kind of drops the bottom out of whether or not people feel like this is a good place to work and so we don’t generally do things that way.”

Kutler told blindsided “ReidOut” staffers during a call Sunday there would be more positions at the network six months from now than there are currently, Status reported.