Fact Check: Did Elon Musk promise to get rid of Joy Reid after purchasing MSNBC?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Internet rumors can spread like wildfire, especially about someone as famous as tech billionaire Elon Musk.
This time, the chatter centers on a claim that Musk promised to fire MSNBC host Joy Reid after supposedly acquiring the network. While it might sound juicy, it is essential to separate fact from fiction.
How did the rumor of Elon Musk vowing to fire Joy Reid originate?
It all started when a website called SpaceXMania published an article on November 29 with the eye-catching headline - 'Elon Musk Promises to Fire Joy Reid After MSNBC Acquisition.'
The piece wasted no time making lofty claims, claiming Musk had purchased MSNBC for a whopping $5 billion and was on a mission to revamp the network. According to the article, Musk was allegedly determined to inject "a much-needed dose of reality" into the media landscape.
The article quoted Musk as tweeting, “Joy Reid is out. She represents everything that's wrong with modern media: divisive narratives, woke pandering, and, let's be honest, way too many bad takes.”
It’s no surprise such a claim got tongues wagging. Social media users on platforms like Facebook and Threads picked up the story, with some treating it as gospel.
One Facebook user cheered, “Good. Fire Joy and Rachel.”
Another added, "As he should."
Fact Check: Did Elon Musk promise to get rid of Joy Reid?
Let’s clear the air! The claim is 100% false. Elon Musk hasn’t acquired MSNBC, nor has he announced any plans to do so, Snopes reported.
SpaceXMania, the source of the rumor, explicitly states on its "About Us" page that its content is purely satirical.
Their disclaimer reads, "Welcome to our website, owned and operated by Funky Productions LLC. We are a team of writers and editors based in New York, USA. Our mission? To bring you the freshest fake news, some sassy analysis, and a good dose of satire, all rolled into one crazy concoction that orbits around Elon Musk and everything that's lighting up the viral/trending charts."
The article in question was plastered with “satire” labels and a note at the bottom confirmed: “This is SATIRE. It’s Not True.”
Despite these disclaimers, the rumor snowballed largely because Musk has toyed with the idea of buying MSNBC in the past. In fact, last month he cheekily responded to a false rumor about Comcast putting MSNBC up for sale by posting on X (formerly Twitter): “How much does it cost?”
That single post set off a cascade of discussions and speculation, including unfounded claims by conservative commentator Trish Regan. She stoked the fire with a video titled - “Joy Reid First to be Fired! MSNBC Hosts PANIC as Elon Musk Considers Purchasing Network.”
Joy Reid’s response to rumors
While the rumor about Elon Musk firing Joy Reid is entirely bogus, it’s worth noting that she has distanced herself from X entirely. She deleted her personal account last month, leaving her MSNBC show’s handle “The ReidOut” as her only connection to the platform.
Reid explained her decision to leave X in a video post. “Today I finally did something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. The reason for doing it, and kissing goodbye to my 1.9 million followers, is because I haven’t been posting for a long time. I just didn’t want to be contributing content once it was purchased by its present owner," she said.
She added that while she occasionally used X as a news aggregator, the platform’s negativity made it unbearable. “In order to do the news aggregation and just look at all, you have to wade through a lot of dreck and just abuse and a lot of negativity, and it’s just not worth it," Reid lamented.
That being said, this isn’t the first time wild stories about Musk’s supposed acquisitions have surfaced. Snopes has debunked similar claims before, including fictional tales about Musk buying ABC and even McDonald’s.
