Jonathan Capehart, Tiffany Cross to host ‘A.M. Joy’ weekend slot on MSNBC

Both Cross and Capehart were a part of a rotating cast of guest anchors who filled the spot vacated by 'The ReidOut' host Joy Reid.

Biba Adams

Dec 4, 2020

MSNBC has officially named the new hosts of the weekend A.M. Joy time slots.

Political analyst and author Tiffany Cross will host Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon, while Washington Post veteran Jonathan Capehart will host the same time on Sundays. Their shows are set to debut Dec. 12 and Dec. 13, helmed from Washington D.C.

Veteran Washington Post staffer Jonathan Capehart (left) and political analyst-author Tiffany Cross have been named the new hosts of MSNBC’s weekend morning shows replacing “A.M. Joy.”

Both Cross and Capehart were a part of a rotating cast of guest anchors — one that included The Grio’s own Dr. Jason Johnson — who filled the spot after its namesake, Joy Reid, moved on to her evening news show, The ReidOut.

“Jonathan Capehart has been a longtime member of the MSNBC family, and his steadfast dedication to great journalism, along with Tiffany Cross’ fresh expert analysis, offer our MSNBC weekend morning audience the best of both worlds from two very different life and worldview experiences,” said Phil Griffin, president of MSNBC, in a statement.

Cross is a former resident fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. Her popular book, “Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives and Saving Our Democracy,” was released in July.

Capehart is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and opinion columnist for The Washington Post who has worked as a contributor at MSNBC since 2009.

“The people who come to MSNBC between 10 and noon are people who know what the news is,” said Capehart in an interview. “They come to us because they want to know the connection with other big stories, how it fits into the larger coverage, and why should I care?”

Cross is planning to cover under-reported stories through diverse voices.

“We are living in a country that is quickly becoming a space where people of color are the steak, not the potato,” she told Variety. “We should not be a separate part of the conversation. We should be woven into the main conversation, just like we have always been woven into the fabric of American society.”

Capehart recently interviewed former President Barack Obama in a primetime special for MSNBC; in it, he noted the coveted interview was one that he wanted for a long time.

He told Variety he wants viewers of his program to “come away with the feeling that they learned something, that they were elevated by watching a conversation that was worthy of their time and certainly that respects their intellect.”

Both shows are, as of yet, untitled.

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