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Maddow as Hell

MSNBC’s $25 million-a-year anchor isn’t going to take it anymore, calling out the network—and by implication her new boss, Rebecca Kutler—for firing host Joy Reid and a slate of producers. But her colleagues are privately pointing out the irony of her latest crusade.

Rachel Maddow
Unfortunately for Kutler, one of the MSNBC staffers who took issue with the changes was Maddow, herself. And rather than air her concerns constructively in private, she decided to put her boss on public blast. Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images
Dylan Byers
February 27, 2025

On Monday, newly appointed MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler formally put her stamp on the network via a slate of quickly executed programming changes, many of which I previewed here last week. As planned, Rachel Maddow will soon be ending her 100-day run as a five-night-a-week anchor and returning to her famously plum $25 million-a-year, Mondays-only gig. Jen Psaki, the network’s next great hope, will replace the beloved but ratings-challenged Alex Wagner in the 9 p.m. hour on the other four weeknights. And, most notably, the three co-hosts of The Weekend—Symone Sanders, Alicia Menendez, and Michael Steele—will be elevated to weeknights at 7 p.m., replacing Joy Reid, who is leaving the network.