Melissa Harris-Perry's days at MSNBC are behind her, but she didn't leave meekly and silently. Not by a long shot. Here are a series of tweets she put out indicating that the end was near.
As for me... I am just waiting to be free... tick tock...tick tock... is it 5 o'clock yet?
— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) March 1, 2016
5pm. Pushing back from pointless "negotiations" like ... pic.twitter.com/bqa6l3uzXD
— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) March 1, 2016
One of the unintended consequences of salary inequity-- harder to get us to take one of those non-disclosure payoffs huh? #freedomovermoney
— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) March 1, 2016
And then finally, this blaze of glory:
So #MSNBC y'all keep making cable great again. I'll be staying challenging & unpredictable. #NerdlandForever pic.twitter.com/BCDOBLfITm
— Melissa Harris-Perry (@MHarrisPerry) March 1, 2016
Dave Zirin over at The Nation wrote about the demise of her show:
Instead of responding to these concerns, network executives chose to simply kill the show, citing the email as “destructive to our relationship.” A nameless exec, speaking to The Washington Post, called her a “challenging and unpredictable personality.” It is certainly true that Melissa fought for her vision of what she wanted the show to be, but it is difficult to imagine that a white, male host would be attacked so personally and called “challenging and unpredictable” for exhibiting similar behavior. It also speaks volumes that such adjectives—“challenging,” “unpredictable”—would be seen as insults in the modern news media world, instead of high praise.
I suppose “challenging and unpredictable” mean decisions like the one she made for what we now know was her final show: a show based around the treatment of homeless people in San Francisco during Super Bowl week and the impact of Beyoncé’s “Formation” video, instead of ever more election analysis with campaign spinmeisters. MHP was the only show to discuss what the possible ramifications could be for Beyoncé if she performed the incendiary song later that day at Super Bowl halftime. It, of course, has caused a firestorm that has yet to die down. Melissa saw it coming. That, in a nutshell, was what made the show so distinctive. Because it discussed issues that other shows would not touch, with guests other shows would never dream of booking, it was able to see and often predict what they simply could not. (For what it’s worth, I was on that last show, a fact that I’ll wear going forward as a badge of honor.)
So that's Melissa Harris-Perry erased, with Alex Wagner and Jose Diaz-Balart waiting to see who will be next.
Thanks, Comcast!
