Who can deny that 2025 continues to be the year of unexpected changes in politics and media. In a shocking, but then again expected move from MSNBC, Joy Reid’s series “The ReidOut” was canceled after five years on the network, leaving a glaring hole in MSNBC’s lineup as they continue to reorganize after losing viewership after the 2024 election.
Major changes are coming to the cable news network in general as they reshuffle their programming, with both Reid and Alex Wagner’s show’s leaving the air after this week. This all comes while MSNBC ushers in a new president, former CNN senior executive Rebecca Kutler, who, as Variety points out, is focused on making MSNBC an “independent newsgathering apparatus” as it loses its ties to NBC News.
One could say that some of us saw this coming: the cancellation of Reid’s show and the general restructuring of the network, especially after the 2024 election. We are in a particularly precarious time of significant business challenges for the network and for left-leaning media at large, as the wave of conservatism post-President Trump’s victory led to some serious erosion in viewership among networks like MSNBC and CNN.
Reid herself has yet to comment on the cancellation, but we’re sure we will be hearing from her soon, whether through her social media or specifically on the show itself, which will still have one more week on air before officially leaving our TV screens.
The timing is troubling on multiple fronts, especially considering Reid just took home not one but two NAACP Image Awards over the weekend for her journalistic work on her show, as well as her book.
While Reid herself has yet to comment on the cancellation, plenty of folks have taken to social media with their thoughts on the cancellation. One user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “the racists are rejoicing” now that Reid’s show is canceled. “The Reidout had a great run. Joy will be okay. Crazy this announcement comes after she just won two NAACP awards last night.”
Justice Correspondent Elie Mystal also wrote in a post, “I owe the television part of my career to Joy Reid, as do so many other Black voices y’all never would have heard of if not for her. And *that’s* why she’s gone. They can treat black folks as interchangeable, but everybody Black knows that Joy was indispensable.”
Others were quick to point out that Reid and Wagner’s show are leaving, but MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” remains, even after the intense controversy after the hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski went to Mar a Lago to “kiss the ring” after Trump won the election.