Ex-MSNBC anchor Joy Reid reveals why she was fired despite impressive viewership
“Joy Reid has spoken out about her axing from the network.
Speaking on Katie Couric’s podcast, the 56-year-old political commentator opened up about her show, The ReidOut, being canceled earlier this year. She said she still doesn’t know the real reason why she was let go, calling the explanation from MSNBC “scripted” and “perfunctory.”
However, she believes she was fired from the liberal network because of her race and the network’s apparent “discomfort” with her outspoken criticism of Donald Trump. “I try not to speculate too much publicly, because again I can't get inside the minds of other people,” she told Couric.
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She added, “But I can tell you what other people have speculated about... There are lots of people at the network who are critical of Donald Trump. I mean and they're still critical of him, I'm assuming."
“So I don't think that's [it] but I do know there's a lot of anxiety both there and I think in every media. We're seeing it at CBS," she noted, referring to the President's ongoing lawsuit against the network over a 60 Minutes interview with then Vice President Kamala Harris.
She pointed out that while others at MSNBC also speak out against Trump, being a Black woman made her stand out in a way that bothered people, including Trump himself. “There is a difference for Trump in hearing criticism from a Black woman,” she said. “It bothers him more than anything else.”
She also said media companies, including MSNBC, are feeling pressure to ease up on Trump coverage. “There’s a push for people to do less Trump, more entertainment, and not be hard on him,” she said.
The television host denied that low ratings led to her show being canceled, as The ReidOut was performing better than most other shows on the network, dropping less in viewership than any show except Rachel Maddow’s.
After the 2024 election, her show averaged 759,000 viewers — down from 1.4 million during the election — but still stronger than others in the same time slot.
She also pushed back on claims that her social media use caused issues. While she admitted MSNBC often asked her to tone down her tweets, she said she had been trying to be more careful before the firing.
“Anytime I would tweet anything, I would get calls - I would get 'Please get off Twitter, we hate it,'" the news host admitted.
She continued, “They just don't like that it pulls their talent and their reporters out of control, because now you're not running what you're tweeting through Standards and Practices. It's giving your personality directly to the audience, which they don't like because it's no longer managed and curated by them.”
Behind the scenes, reports suggested that leadership at the corporation had been looking to remove Reid since late 2023. Her 7 p.m. slot was replaced by The WeekNight, which features Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele. However, the new show has struggled in ratings, pulling in fewer viewers than Reid’s.
Other new shows are also underperforming. Jen Psaki’s show has dropped 46% in viewers compared to when Maddow was hosting, and even Maddow’s Monday-only program has lost about 24% of its audience.
Despite the shakeup, she says she still isn’t sure why she was fired. “We were told we were holding on pretty well,” she said. The Mirror has reached out to MSNBC for comment.“
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