MSNBC cuts ties with Tiffany Cross, ends weekend show
Production staff for her show, "The Cross Connection," which began in late 2020, got word of the unexpected move on Friday morning.
MSNBC has reportedly cut ties with Tiffany Cross, the popular host of “The Cross Connection,” its Saturday morning political show.
According to Variety, sources shared that MSNBC opted not to extend Cross’ contract and severed ties with her immediately. Production staff for “The Cross Connection,” which began in late 2020, got word of the unexpected move on Friday morning.
There have reportedly been rumors, Variety asserts, that Cross’ relationship with MSNBC was deteriorating because of her repeated responses to claims made by show hosts on other channels. She allegedly engaged in commentary, sources claimed, that select executives felt didn’t meet the standards at NBC News and MSNBC, the cable news network owned by NBCUniversal.
“The Cross Connection” was a two-hour political talk program that the now-former host extensively marketed on social media. MSNBC’s decision to cut ties with Cross is even more shocking, considering she has established a loyal following among some target demographics: Black viewers and Black women.
Variety reported that Cross, a former bureau chief for BET in Washington, D.C., had served as a political commentator for MSNBC and was a former resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.
As noted by Deadline, she made incisive remarks on “The Cross Connection,” occasionally calling out other opinionated media personalities. Earlier this month, Megyn Kelly attacked Cross and called her the most “racist person on television.”
In response, Cross referred to Kelly as “the blackface expert.” Kelly had struggled to get traction in ratings when she left Fox News for NBC in 2017, and faced criticism for remarks she made about donning blackface for Halloween.
A rotating cast of MSNBC anchors will oversee Cross’ weekend shifts until the network finds a replacement.
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