Former host of MSNBC, Joy Reid, opens up following the cancellation of her show, hinting that her skin color and the widespread panic concerning Donald Trump in the network may have led to her dismissal. Despite avoiding conjecture, she mentions talks around the network about the rampant criticism of Donald Trump. Such criticism persists, as she suspects, in spite of the simmering unrest throughout all forms of media including the likes of CBS.
Reid points to Trump’s ongoing legal battle with the network as a result of his contentious ’60 Minutes’ interview with Kamala Harris as a possible anxiety trigger. While Reid does not explicitly accuse her termination to be a product of these stressors, the implications sit heavy in the atmosphere. Yet, this was the fate of Reid’s show earlier in the year, despite the ongoing Trump controversy.
The landscape of media is morphing, according to Reid. Echoes of this can be seen at ABC, where hosts of ‘The View’ were reportedly encouraged to ease off with their attacks on Trump. The prevailing narrative appears to be a plea for lesser Trump-related content and an increased focus on entertainment.
Kamala Harris-esque pandering seems to be the new wave of television, which leans more towards avoiding any potential unpleasantness linked with Trump. This notable shift saw Joy Reid, once the star at MSNBC speaking at the 2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture, replaced with ‘The WeekNight’, a group show.
One host, Symone Sanders-Townsend, even served as Kamala Harris’s spokeswoman. Accompanying her is Alicia Menendez, daughter of the notorious former New Jersey Senator, Bob Menendez, and Michael Steele, the ex-chair of the Republican National Committee who has since switched allegiances.
The ripples of Reid’s replacement are being felt as the new programming of MSNBC is struggling to captivate the audience in its first days. The new shows remain sidelined. Their struggles, though, seem to be a part of the overall downward spiral MSNBC has been suffering from.
Before the discontinuation of her show, Reid was informed that her program had seen less of a drop in ratings than any other on MSNBC. With the decline she did experience, one could say she was swept away with the falling tide that seemed to engulf her peers.
Noteworthy is the dramatic slump that Reid and her previous primetime colleagues experienced in the post-Trump victory era. ‘The Reidout’ suffered a significant loss, managing to retain only 759,000 viewers from nearly doubling that number at 1.4 million before the election day of 2024.
Contrary to what one might think, ‘The Reidout’, she claimed, was the least impacted amongst all other primetime shows in the timeslot, stating they were ‘holding on pretty well’. Yet, despite their respectable fight, the show was discontinued.
Curiously, even Reid’s departure doesn’t seem to have resuscitated the sinking ship that is MSNBC’s ratings. An aspect that reinforces Reid’s puzzlement over her mysterious termination. ‘No individual offered me a reason for my firing’, Reid stated exasperated.
MSNBC’s explanation was ‘clichéd and formal’, in the words of Reid. It certainly seems that MSNBC has adopted a more cautious approach in the wake of Reid’s termination, particularly regarding their use of social media.
According to Reid, the fear of social media and the potential repercussions from it dominate the network. Even Reid fell into the trend of enacting caution on social media, citing her vigilance over her online presence.
Despite her patience and carefulness, Reid’s mystery remains unresolved. While she keeps reiterating, ‘I do not know, I genuinely was not told’ concerning her lay-off, her perplexity mirrors that of the audience — all left wondering about the true motive behind MSNBC’s decision.
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