Joy Reid expected to replace Chris Matthews on MSNBC primetime show
If true, Reid will join Don Lemon as one of the two Black hosts currently presenting national cable news
Talk show host Joy Reid is reportedly in talks to fill the nightly primetime slot previously held by Chris Matthews on MSNBC.
Joy Reid is reportedly in talks to fill the nightly primetime slot previously held by Chris Matthews on MSNBC.
News that Reid was being considered to replace Matthews initially broke in March of this year.
READ MORE: Joy Reid urged as Chris Matthews’ replacement on MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’
CNN political commentator, Aisha Hood Mills, suggested that the slot should go to Reid given that the network had no Black hosts in primetime.
This slot should go to @JoyAnnReid !!! She’d be briiliant and MSNBC has no Black hosts in primetime. Shameful. https://t.co/5sn1rIikIN
— Aisha C. Mills (@AishaMoodMills) March 3, 2020
Reid is currently the host of AM Joy, a weekend program on the network which features interviews and news programming. She previously hosted a show on the network called The Reid Report from 2014 to 2015.
According to Deadline, a spokesperson has not confirmed the report, which first ran in the Wall Street Journal. If the deal is finalized, Reid will join Don Lemon as one of the two African American news show hosts currently presenting national cable news.
(L-R) Gloria Steinem, Joy Reid, and Katie Couric attend the 2014 Women’s Media Awards at Capitale on October 29, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for The Women’s Media Center)
Reid is a graduate of Harvard University. Before her journalism career, she was a business consultant. She is known for her blunt, but accessible communications style. In 2018, the New York Times called her the “heroine” of the anti-Trump resistance. “I think people should think more deeply about what they’re electing, about who they’re electing,” Reid told the Times, “Because that person becomes the embodiment of America.”
Chris Matthews retired from MSNBC after allegations of inappropriate behavior surfaced.
— Chris Matthews (@HardballChris) March 3, 2020
“After a conversation with MSNBC, I decided tonight will be my last ‘Hardball,’ so let me tell you why,” Matthews said in March, “The younger generation’s out there ready to take the reins. We see them in politics, in media, in fighting for their causes. They’re improving the workplace.”
READ MORE: Joy Reid calls out GOP for holding up coronavirus stimulus package
Journalist and TV host Tamron Hall tweeted, “Need I say more… primetime cable news!!”
Reid will host The Road to Reform: A Special Report with Joy Reid at 7 p.m. on Friday. The special will focus on examining the growing calls for police reform will feature appearances by Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
