MSNBC host Jen Psaki will slide into a new primetime slot as part of a massive shakeup that includes the ouster of President Trump-bashing anchor Joy Reid, the embattled network confirmed Monday.
Psaki, the former press secretary for President Joe Biden, will take over the 9 p.m. duties Tuesdays through Fridays from current host Alex Wagner beginning in late April, the network said.
The overhaul at the left-leaning network by new president Rebecca Kutler also includes axing weekend shows hosted by Ayman Mohyeldin, Jonathan Capehart, Katie Phang and Jose Diaz-Balart.
Kutler’s rearranging of the anchor chairs comes after news leaked Sunday that Reid was getting the boot. Her show, “The ReidOut,” will be replaced by the hosts of “The Weekend” — Michael Steele, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Alicia Menendez.
Reid, who was slated to host her last show Monday, broke her silence over the ouster in a rambling call-in to the “Win With Black Women” podcast.
“I’ve been through every emotion from, you know, anger, rage, disappointment, hurt, you know, a feeling that, you know, guilt. You know, that I let my team lose their jobs,” Reid said during the Zoom call Sunday night.
Psaki will begin filling Rachel Maddow’s time slot once the network’s highest-paid star returns to hosting just one show a week, on Mondays.
Maddow was tasked by the network to host five days a week during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
Wagner will remain at MSNBC as a senior political analyst.
Kutler replaced Rashida Jones last month as parent company Comcast prepares to spin off the network and its other cable properties.
MSNBC also plans to add a Washington bureau and beef up domestic and international correspondents as it gets severed from sister channel NBC News after the spinoff.
Kutler’s moves to shake up the network have angered some MSNBC insiders.
She is “canceling two hosts that made history. Alex Wagner is [the] first Asian-American primetime host and Joy Reid was the first black woman cable primetime host,” one source told The Post.
“She’s tough and very corporate. Not a lot of people like her but she gets things done.”
Capehart and Mohyeldin will lose their current weekend shows and move to new roles.
Capehart will take over anchoring the morning edition of “The Weekend, ” while Mohyeldin will helm the evening version of the program.
Phang and Diaz-Balart, who helm shows from Miami, were told their programs will end as the network sunsets its South Florida-based operations, according to the network.
Phang will stay on as a legal correspondent.
Diaz-Balart is employed by Telemundo and NBC News — anchoring the network’s weekend nightly news broadcast.
As part of the revamp, daytime anchors Katy Tur, Ana Cabrera and Chris Jansing will have their shows moved or extended, while Ali Velshi’s 10 a.m. weekend show will be expanded from two to three hours.
“This is going to be a really exciting time but also a challenging time,” Kutler told MSNBC leaders during a meeting before the changes were announced.
“I think it’s important that we as leaders are honest about that and about the challenges ahead. Our jobs are hard on a normal day, and these are not normal times.”
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