MSNBC’s 50% Ratings Crash Forced Comcast to Clean House

Joy Reid Wasn’t Fired for Being Black—She Was Fired for Being Unwatchable

Ah, Rachel Maddow. The woman who bravely stands against the powerful, speaking truth to corporate tyranny—all while cashing their checks to the tune of $25 million a year. You almost have to respect the audacity. Almost.

Recently, Maddow, in her trademark blend of condescension and performative outrage, accused her own employer, MSNBC (owned by Comcast), of racism for firing Joy Reid. It was a stirring moment of self-righteousness—right up until you remember one tiny, inconvenient detail: Maddow still has a job.

Now, let’s pause to appreciate just how absurd that is. In any other corporate setting, if one of the highest-paid employees took to the airwaves and declared their employer to be an institutionally racist organization, HR would be in their office with a cardboard box before the end credits rolled. No company—public or private—would tolerate such an existential attack from within. Except MSNBC, which tells us one thing: MSNBC has not been acting like a private or public company. It is something else entirely.

MSNBC has, in reality, served as an extension of the Democratic Party. Although it is not based at the Democratic National Headquarters (DNC) in Washington, D.C., it’s fair to say it operates out of the DNC’s “satellite” offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. It functions as the Democrats’ communications arm, a propaganda machine, and a safe space where woke ideological purity is prioritized over profit. Make no mistake: any other business focused on profit and self-preservation would have fired Maddow immediately. But MSNBC? They allow her to go on air, continue to rake in millions and perform her righteous monologues as though she were some kind of resistance fighter rather than one of the highest-paid corporate shills on television.

But here’s where the irony peaks. Maddow accuses MSNBC of racism for firing Joy Reid—when, in fact, MSNBC is the most racist media organization in America because they kept Joy Reid on the air for so long. Through her show The ReidOut, Reid unleashed the most vitriolic, race-obsessed rhetoric imaginable, consistently portraying white Americans as villains in a dystopian morality play. Night after night, she railed against “white tears,” lamented that “white Christians” believe America “belongs to them,” and dismissed concerns about crime as merely another manifestation of racist paranoia.

She argued that Republican opposition to COVID restrictions and vaccine mandates was just an extension of white supremacy because, apparently, personal liberty is a uniquely racist concept. She suggested that inflation was a fake issue drummed up by racist conservatives to hurt Joe Biden’s presidency. And let’s not forget her wild claim that white Americans treat Black voters as “disposable” because of voter ID laws—ignoring the fact that these laws apply to everyone.

MSNBC not only tolerated this rhetoric but actively promoted it. For years, the network allowed Reid to transform The ReidOut into a nightly sermon on the evils of white America. If MSNBC were truly a racist institution for the reasons Maddow now claims, they would never have permitted Reid to express such views in the first place. Instead, they bankrolled her to the tune of $3 million per year, treating her as an untouchable prophet of racial grievance. And now, because they have finally decided to part ways with Reid, Maddow wants us to believe this is proof of their bigotry?

The truth is far less ideologically satisfying. Reid wasn’t fired due to a sudden moral awakening at MSNBC or a covert agenda against outspoken Black women. No, she was let go because her divisive, race-baiting commentary was driving viewers away in droves. Following the 2024 election, MSNBC’s ratings plummeted by more than 50%. The ReidOut lost even more viewers in the key demographic of ages 25-54, shedding 52% of them and averaging fewer than 76,000 key demo viewers, as audiences grew weary of her relentless focus on racial grievance and her disconnect from the concerns of everyday Americans.

However, there is an even more pragmatic reason for Reid’s ousting that Maddow conveniently overlooks. Comcast, the parent company of MSNBC, is spinning off its cable properties, including MSNBC, into a new entity. This move clearly indicates that Comcast aims to offload a profitless product and package it for sale to any potential buyer who is naive enough to acquire it. In this context, Reid’s firing makes perfect sense. Her show was a ratings disaster, and her inflammatory rhetoric rendered the network even less appealing to potential buyers. By eliminating her, Comcast seeks to enhance MSNBC as a more attractive asset, hoping to salvage what little value it can from a failing enterprise.

There’s a reason Rachael Maddow, who also lost nearly half of her audience post-election, remains on the air. She isn’t an employee in the traditional sense; she’s an operative, a highly paid spokesperson masquerading as a journalist. And MSNBC? It’s not a network—it’s a messaging vehicle, one that serves power while pretending to challenge it.

So, Rachel, keep criticizing your bosses while collecting their checks. Just don’t expect the rest of us to fall for the act.