MSNBC has reportedly canceled longtime anchor Joy Reid’s primetime show The ReidOut as part of a major overhaul led by the network’s new president, Rebecca Kutler.
According to The New York Times, sources familiar with the reshuffling revealed that Reid’s 7 PM slot will be replaced by a new panel show featuring Democratic strategist Symone Sanders Townsend, former RNC chair Michael Steele, and journalist Alicia Menendez. The trio currently co-hosts The Weekend, which airs on Saturdays and Sundays.
The final episode of The ReidOut is set to air this week, marking the end of its five-year run on MSNBC.
The cancelation comes just a month after MSNBC’s former president, Rashida Jones, stepped down, ending her nearly four-year tenure. Kutler, who previously served as the network’s senior vice president for content strategy, took over following Jones’ departure.
Before The ReidOut, Reid hosted MSNBC’s weekend talk show AM Joy from 2016 to 2020.
Since then, the 56-year-old has built a reputation as a staunch critic of President Donald Trump, with The New York Times even calling her a “heroine of the resistance to his leadership.
Reid has also earned multiple accolades during her tenure at the network, including an NAACP Image Award this past weekend for The ReidOut, which won Outstanding News/Information Series.
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According to The Post, Reid’s departure is just one of several major shakeups at the network as Kutler looks to improve MSNBC’s ratings, which have consistently trailed behind Fox News.
One of the most anticipated changes involves plans for who will fill the rest of the 9 p.m. ET slot once Rachel Maddow returns to a once-a-week schedule this spring. Maddow was brought back to a five-night-a-week schedule after Trump’s inauguration in an effort to boost viewership.
Alex Wagner, who previously hosted Tuesday through Friday, is not expected to return to the timeslot. Instead, she will remain on the network as a correspondent. Wagner has been traveling the country on assignment for a series of special reports called Trumpland: The First 100 Days.
Meanwhile, Jen Psaki, who currently hosts a Sunday morning and Monday evening show, is being considered to take over the anchor duties for the 9 PM slot, although some other anchors may be shifted around in that slot.
“Our jobs are hard on a normal day, and these are not normal times,” Kutler told MSNBC leaders in February. “I think it’s important that we all share in the exciting parts of what the year ahead is going to mean in terms of getting to build a new news organization… It’s going to be hard, but it’s also going to be exciting and interesting and a really important time to do what all of us do.”
Kutler, a former senior executive at CNN, is credited with recruiting and producing high-profile anchors such as John King, Van Jones, Don Lemon, and Chris Cuomo.
