MSNBC announced Monday that it has parted ways with political commentator and television host Joy Reid as part of a broader network shakeup.
“Joy Reid is leaving the network, and we thank her for her countless contributions over the years,” MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler said in a memo to staff. “Her work has been recognized with several esteemed honors, including, most recently, the 2025 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News Series. In the coming weeks, rotating anchors will host the hour.”
Reid, who hosted The ReidOut, confirmed her departure in a statement on Bluesky, thanking her supporters.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out with kindness and encouragement, both personally and in these social media streets,” she wrote. “So very proud of The ReidOut team, who are truly family, and all of our supporters and friends.”
Reid, a prominent progressive voice and outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, addressed her termination in an emotional Zoom interview on Monday with the organization Win With Black Women.
“But in the end, where I really land, and where I’ve landed today, is just gratitude,” Reid said, wiping away tears. “Not just because people would take the time to get on a call like this or to take care of me. But also that my show had value.”
Reid defended her outspoken stance on racial justice issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement and the war in Gaza.
“I am not sorry I stood up for those things, because those things are of God,” she said.
Her departure removes one of MSNBC’s most high-profile Black women at a time when diversity, equity, and inclusion policies are facing political scrutiny.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow criticized the decision on her show Monday night.
“I think it is a bad mistake to let her walk out the door,” Maddow said. “It is also unnerving to see that on a network where we’ve got two nonwhite hosts in primetime, both of our nonwhite hosts in primetime are losing their shows, as is Katie Phang on the weekend.”
Alongside The ReidOut, MSNBC also canceled The Katie Phang Show and José Díaz-Balart Reports. According to Kutler’s memo, Phang, who is Asian, and Díaz-Balart, who is Latino, will remain with the network in other capacities.
Former President Trump celebrated Reid’s firing in a Truth Social post, attacking MSNBC and its parent company, Comcast.
“Lowlife Chairman of ‘Concast,’ Brian Roberts, the owner of ratings-challenged NBC and MSDNC, has finally gotten the nerve up to fire one of the least talented people in television, the mentally obnoxious racist, Joy Reid,” Trump wrote. “Based on her ratings, which were virtually non-existent, she should have been ‘canned’ long ago, along with everyone else who works there.”
As part of the network’s restructuring, Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez, currently co-hosts of The Weekend, will move to a new weekday program. Meanwhile, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will transition to a primetime weekday slot.
(Originally reported by Alana Wise)