Melissa Harris-Perry may have just tweeted her final goodbye to her show and MSNBC.
In a tweet posted Sunday morning, the MSNBC anchor bid “farewell” to her beloved #Nerdland — a hashtag that encompasses the essence of both her show and its loyal following.
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Friday, Harris-Perry walked off her show, refusing to appear in her weekend’s normal timeslot due to continuing conflict with NBC News Chief Andrew Lack and MSNBC President Phil Griffin.
Harris-Perry reportedly grew frustrated about the network’s presidential election coverage continually pre-empting her show. The New York Daily News pins the starting point of the conflict to a specific segment on Beyoncé’s “Formation” video, which network execs opposed.
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Harris-Perry did the segment anyway. It was another example of the kind of topic her #Nerdland followers had come to expect the anchor to cover.
An e-mail Melissa Harris-Perry wrote to her staff about the entire situation was published in full by MTV News’ Jamil Smith Friday afternoon.
In the e-mail, Harris-Perry tells her colleagues she is “not owned” by Lack or Griffin. She says that while MSNBC may think she is “worthless,” she knows better.
The anchor and Presidential Endowed Professor at Wake Forest University said she was available to assist with coverage of the presidential race over the last two weeks but was left on the sidelines.
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A spokesperson at NBC News told the New York Times the network was surprised by Harris-Perry’s reaction to her show’s pre-emptions:
In this exciting and unpredictable presidential primary season, many of our daytime programs have been temporarily upended by breaking political coverage, including M.H.P. This reaction is really surprising, confusing and disappointing.
While Harris-Perry’s exit from MSNBC is not yet official, her tweet Sunday morning indicating ‘farewell’ may be all the indication her fans need.
