Joy Reid jokes about MSNBC ‘breakup’ during Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards speech

Days after Joy Reid's show 'The ReidOut' was canceled by MSNBC, she took the stage at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards in Los Angeles
UPDATED FEB 28, 2025
Joy Reid addressed her MSNBC show's cancellation at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards in Los Angeles on February 27, 2025 (Leon Bennett/Getty Images for ESSENCE)
Joy Reid addressed her MSNBC show's cancellation at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards in Los Angeles on February 27, 2025 (Leon Bennett/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Joy Reid, the recently sacked MSNBC host, is reflecting on her “breakup” with the channel as she joked about her recent career development. 

Reid, the illustrious former host of 'The ReidOut', recently took the stage at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards in Los Angeles, when she acknowledged her show’s cancellation.



 

Joy Reid opens up about her ‘breakup’ with MSNBC

Speaking on the stage of the award show, the 56-year-old broadcaster joked about her situation with the network, saying, “Now, I think you might have heard that I’ve recently been through a breakup—but not with my husband!” as reported by The Daily Beast.

She clarified, “Not with my husband, because today actually is our anniversary.” The New York native has been married to her husband Jason Reid since 1997, with whom she shares three children.

While Reid clarified that her relationship with her husband has not gone through a “breakup,” she stated it was her professional life that had suffered a blow. Apart from axing Reid’s talk show that premiered in 2020, the channel also laid off the production staffers, while giving them the option to apply for new roles. 

Joy Reid poses backstage during the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 27, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for ESSENCE)
Joy Reid poses backstage during the 2025 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 27, 2025, in Los Angeles, California (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

As part of the program shake-up initiated by the network's new president Rebecca Kutler, Reid's show was canceled after being on-air for more than four years.

Elsewhere during her speech, the Harvard University alum claimed that Black women “are living at a time of theft,” adding that “our history is at risk of being stolen away.”

“Our opportunity to participate in this democracy is being threatened,” she noted and continued, “We are losing the service, potentially, of federal workers who are disproportionately us in the service that we disproportionately give.”

Commenting on the current scenario, Reid noted, “This country is becoming more diverse, whether people like it or not, and so if you want to sell dollies, you’re going to need a Black mermaid, because all the little Black and brown girls want to see themselves in those characters.”

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JULY 07: Joy Reid speaks during the 2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ Presented By Coca-Cola® at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 07, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for ESSENCE)
Joy Reid speaks during the 2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ Presented By Coca-Cola® at Ernest N Morial Convention Center on July 7, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

“Equity is important because we come in knowing we have to be better, more educated, stronger, more prepared than anyone else when we walk into a room,” she explained. 

Backing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that are facing challenges from the Trump government, Reid noted, “And so we are. And so in each of the spaces that we exist, we tend to be the best.”

The broadcaster argued, “And that equity is not just equity for us, it’s equity for these companies and organizations that we serve,” as she pointed out, “It makes their organizations better, and inclusion is just reality. There’s nothing you can do to reverse the tide that is making this a more diverse country.”

Joy Reid says she is 'not sorry' after MSNBC axed her show

Joy Reid's lighthearted acknowledgment regarding her show's cancellation came just a few days after she became emotional while admitting that she was "not sorry" for going "hard on so many issues" on the show while appearing on the 'Win With Black Women' podcast on Sunday, February 23. 

Breaking her silence about the cancellation, Reid admitted, "I’ve been through every emotion from, you know anger, rage, disappointment….guilt...that I let my team lose their jobs," per New York Post.



 

Though the broadcaster has previously received backlash for her slew of comments regarding White people, a defiant Reid admitted, "I’m not sorry. I am not sorry that I stood up for those those things."

She added, "But in the end, where I really land… is just gratitude. Just pure gratitude and gratitude. Not just because people would take the time to get on a call like this or to take care of me. But also that my show had value."

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