Joy Reid is letting us all in on how she feels after that shocking decision from MSNBC. As we reported, the internet has been in shambles since reports surfaced that MSNBC is canceling Joy Reid’s popular show, “The ReidOut,” after five years. Immediately, folks began calling out the network, as it seems growing pressures following a drop in viewership after the 2024 election, combined with a new administration that’s not particularly kind to left-leaning media, has lead to one of the most unfortunate programming decisions from a cable news network in recent memory.
In a video uploaded to the internet, Reid went candid about the network’s decision, and stood ten toes down regarding her work on the series and all that she and her team brought to the table over the years.
“I’ve been through every emotion, from anger, rage, disappointment, hurt … feeling guilt that I let my team lose their jobs,” she said in the video, which comes from a Zoom meeting for “Win for Black Women.” She then took the time to say that in the end, she lands on “pure gratitude” as she knows deep down “her show has value.”
“I try not to cry,” she continued through tears. “I try not to cry on TV, and I think this is kind of like me on TV, so I apologize.” She then explained that she “went hard” on many issues. “Whether it was the Black Lives Matter, issues of a young baby or a mom or dad that was killed or when we opened up people’s eyes to the fact that Asian Americans were being targeted, and not just Black folks,” she explained.
She also specifically called out the current president, defending her criticism of him and his administration. “We talked about what the president is doing that is subversive to the Constitution, that is injurious to our liberty.” Finally, she defended her coverage of Gaza amid the Gaza-Israel conflict. “We as the American people have a right to object to little babies being bombed and and where I come down on that is, I’m not sorry. I am not sorry that I stood up for those things, because those things are of God.”
Reid went on to have her final episode of TheReidOut on Monday evening, spending her last hour devoting her time to her dedicated viewers and instructing them on how they can resist in the time of a second Donald Trump presidency.
Reid has seen an immense amount of support online since the news of her exit, and it seems like many are not about these changes at MSNBC, which includes the cancellation of Alex Wagner’s show as well. The backlash to these decisions is only getting louder, leading some to even suggest a boycott of MSNBC altogether, which if true, will not fix their viewership issue at all.
In a now-deleted post on Threads, Ambassador Digital Magazine editor-in-chief Musa Jackson wrote, “Every time MSNBC has a ‘shakeup’ the Black woman solo led show is ALWAYS the first to go. Tamron Hall, Tiffany Cross, Zerlina Maxwell and now Joy Reid. Boycott MSNBC.”
Reid has received massive support from fellow journalists like Don Lemon and figures like D.L. Hughley. Hughley wrote in a post on Instagram, “THIS IS FAR FROM THE LAST TIME YOU WILL SEE OR HEAR FROM @joyannreid …BUT IT WILL HE THE LAST TIME I GIVE @msnbc THAT MUCH ATTENTION.”
Lemon has also shared numerous posts dedicated to Reid, including one defending her against MAGA trolls and haters like Megyn Kelly, who have attacked Reid long before her exit from MSNBC, and continues to do so even now.