Melissa Harris-Perry Out At MSNBC In Wake Of Angry Email
Melissa Harris-Perry and MSNBC this morning confirmed that she won’t be returning to the cable network, after an email in which she denounced the network for pre-empting her show for election coverage was leaked to the New York Times on Friday. In a tweet Sunday morning, Harris-Perry wrote “Farewell #Nerdland. Inviting diverse new voices to table was a privilege. Grateful for years of support & criticism.” Nerdland is her nickname for fans of her wonkish weekend political program.
On Friday, Harris-Perry refused to host MSNBC presidential campaign coverage in her show’s timeslot this weekend. In the email she sent to staff, she expressed displeasure with MSNBC for frequently preempting MHP for an election-coverage program called Place For Politics.
“I am not hungry for empty airtime,” Harris-Perry wrote in the note. “I care only about substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work. When we can do that, I will return — not a moment earlier.” MSNBC, along with its competitors, has focused much of its programming on election coverage and commentary in the run-up to the fall Presidential election.
Read about her memo and its fallout here.
On Friday, MSNBC called Harris-Perry’s complaints “really surprising, confusing and disappointing.”
An MSNBC spokesman confirmed to reporters this morning that the channel is “parting ways” with Harris-Perry.
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