A day after winning an NAACP Image Award, one of MSNBC’s highest rated shows is
done. The cancellation of Joy Reid’s primetime show, The ReidOut, has sparked
outrage and confusion among viewers and fans.
Some of them are committed to letting the network know that they aren’t happy by
“turning the TV off.”
Announced across social media, organizers, activists and allies of Reid are
calling for viewers to tune into the final episode of The ReidOut tonight,
February 24, 2025, and then immediately change the channel at the conclusion of
the program.
On Sunday, more than 10,000 viewers tuned into an impromptu call to action
organized by Win With Black Women and We Win With Black Men, digital organizing
collectives known for rallying support for high-profile figures like former Vice
President Kamala Harris and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Reid
joined the call, too. “I am not sorry and I am so proud of what we did,” she
said of her award-winning show, which ran for five years.
Also on the call were frequent guests of her MSNBC show, including political
analysts Tiffany Cross and Angela Rye, along with longtime organizer Rashad
Robinson.
“When we don’t speak up in these moments we continue to allow the line to be
moved,” said Rashad Robinson, an well-known organizer who joined the call.
In a video on social media, Karen Attiah described the protest as a way to show
support for Reid as well as a way to send a clear message of dissent to MSNBC.
As the only Black woman to host a primetime show on cable television, MSNBC’s
decision has been seen through the lens of a spate of other cancelations over
the years, including shows hosted by Tamron Hall, Melissa Harris-Perry and
Tiffany Cross, all Black women.
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This move comes amid larger shifts within MSNBC and NBC Universal. Among the
rumored changes, Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele,
hosts of MSNBC’s The Weekend, are expected to take Reid’s 7p ET time slot.