MSNBC bloodbath hits Rachel Maddow staffers in major overhaul that has claimed Joy Reid, Alex Wagner shows: report
MSNBC has reportedly informed a majority of staffers who work on Rachel Maddow’s primetime opinion show that they are being let go as part of the network’s restructuring that resulted in the cancellation of Joy Reid’s program as well as those of other hosts.
The Comcast-owned, left-leaning channel told Maddow staffers, who also worked on the other canceled shows including “Alex Wagner Tonight,” that they have the option of applying for new roles at the network or accepting a severance payout, according to the news site Guardian.
Maddow, MSNBC’s most prominent anchor and top-rated host, will retain her executive producer, Cory Gnazzo, along with several senior producers, the Guardian reported.
However, the rest of her team, along with producers from other recently canceled shows — including those hosted by Alex Wagner, Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, Ayman Mohyeldin and José Díaz-Balart — will need to find new jobs either within the network or at a different company, according to the report.
A network insider reached by The Post denied that the move constituted layoffs. The network insists that the shakeup was a reallocation of resources to support the network’s evolving priorities, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The network source told The Post that affected employees will have the first opportunity to apply for the newly available positions before any roles are opened to external candidates.
Despite these reassurances, the manner in which the changes are being implemented — requiring employees to reapply for jobs they already held — has raised concerns, the Guardian reported.
Historically, MSNBC has found ways to redistribute staff without cutting positions outright when canceling programs.
This approach marks a notable departure from previous practices and comes at a challenging time for the cable news industry at large.
The restructuring coincides with broader financial pressures at MSNBC, which is being spun off from parent company NBCUniversal.
The network is searching for cost-saving measures, mirroring CNN’s recent move to lay off 200 employees under its new chief executive, Mark Thompson, who has been aggressively pushing for a stronger digital strategy.
Sources in Washington, DC, have privately voiced concerns that the new roles MSNBC is posting may predominantly be based in New York, where union-negotiated hourly pay rates are reportedly lower.
Employees worry that accepting new positions may require relocation, further complicating their employment status.
The uncertainty surrounding the changes has left many staffers on edge.
Over the weekend, Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter reported that a staff member from Reid’s show confronted MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler about the fate of the program’s employees.
According to the report, Kutler confirmed the layoffs but assured the team that affected employees would remain on the payroll until April and receive severance packages.
Kutler also sought to soften concerns by stating that more than 100 new positions would be posted within the week, encouraging staff members to apply.
She added that in six months’ time, MSNBC would have more employees than it does currently, an assertion intended to project long-term stability despite the current upheaval.
While Reid is no longer an employee of the network, the other hosts — Wagner, Phang, Capehart, Mohyeldin and Díaz-Balart — will either host shows at different time slots or be reassigned to new roles within the MSNBC ecosystem, the network said earlier this week.
Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, current hosts of “The Weekend,” will move to weekdays at 7 p.m. to host a new ensemble news hour — replacing Reid’s “The ReidOut.”
On Monday night, Maddow blasted the network’s recent decisions during a monologue on her show — implying that her bosses were racist in letting go Reid, who is black, and demoting Wagner, whose mother is Burmese.
“There is no colleague for whom I have had more affection and more respect than Joy Reid,” Maddow said during her Monday monologue.
“I love everything about her. I have learned so much from her. I have so much more to learn from her. I do not want to lose her as a colleague here at MSNBC.”
Maddow continued: “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.”
Maddow noted that it was “unnerving” that MSNBC management axed “both of our non-white hosts in prime time” as well as Phang’s show, which has aired on weekends.
While Maddow did not explicitly mention the layoffs, her remarks were widely interpreted as criticism of the programming shakeup and the treatment of affected staff members.
The decision to part ways with Maddow’s team stems from the structure of her production staff, which had been split between her show and Wagner’s program.
This arrangement was established when Maddow reduced her on-air schedule to hosting only on Mondays while Wagner took over Tuesday through Friday.
However, Maddow is temporarily hosting five nights a week for the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
The plan is for Maddow to resume her once-a-week schedule beginning on April 21. The remaining 9 p.m. shows from Tuesday through Friday will then be hosted by Jen Psaki, the onetime Biden White House press secretary.
An MSNBC spokesperson declined to comment.
