Joy-Ann Reid is speaking out on what she feels were the determining factors behind her popular show, “The Reid Out,” getting cancelled on MSNBC last year. And what she reveals may not surprise you.
Sitting down for an all-new interview with Katie Couric this week, Reid reflected on being let go from the network and gave voice to a few reasons why things may have played out in the way that they did. While initially opting against speculation as she couldn’t speak to what was going on in other people’s heads, Reid did reveal that the network had some “anxiety” about their coverage of Trump and that she believed that trickled into their decision making.
As you well know by now, Reid was just one of the many commentators on the network who regularly called out Trump’s words and actions on her show. She’d also often take her commentary off the air and share them online with her social media followers, as she had done for years.
Speaking to when she first started doing that when she joined the network, she said that her bosses at the time were “horrified” any time she put out something because it was “out of their control.” For what it’s worth, when working for major organizations–especially news outlets–there are often parameters around what you can and can’t post. Most companies even put severe consequences, like suspension and termination, in place to ensure their employees are representing themselves and the company in a manner that goes against what they represent.
Tying her outspokenness back the network’s concerns about Trump coverage, Couric questioned what the difference was between what Reid was doing then versus what her other liberal colleagues like Rachel Maddow were doing.
“The Reid Out” host then frankly responded that she felt the only difference she could find was the fact that she was “a Black woman doing the thing.”
Referencing Trump’s disdain for Black women reporters and their critiques of him, Reid said:
“I think that there is a difference for Trump in hearing the kinds of criticisms specifically out of a Black woman, it bothers him in a way it doesn’t bother him like anything else. He’s got this sort of tick about race, you know, and about, sort of criticism coming specifically from a Black woman because we’ve seen him lay out and dish out real abuse against Black women journalists,”
She later added: “I did a specific thing, which was, I tried to constantly unpack the racial history of the country, which is very much against the sort of Project 2025 thing. And it’s something I can do in a certain capacity because of my background, because not only am I a Black woman, but I come from immigrant parents who come from what Donald Trump would consider sh*thole countries, but that have a take on race that is different.”
Reid’s show “The Reid Out,” was canceled back in February 2025. In the aftermath, she’s now lauched her own show “The Joy Reid Show” which is available to stream every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on YouTube and all other podcast platforms.
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