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Chris Matthews Out at MSNBC Chris Matthews Out at MSNBC
(about 2 hours later)
Chris Matthews, the veteran political anchor and voluble host of the long-running MSNBC talk show “Hardball,” resigned on Monday night, an abrupt departure from a television perch that made him a fixture of politics and the news media over the past quarter-century.Chris Matthews, the veteran political anchor and voluble host of the long-running MSNBC talk show “Hardball,” resigned on Monday night, an abrupt departure from a television perch that made him a fixture of politics and the news media over the past quarter-century.
Mr. Matthews, 74, had faced mounting criticism in recent days over a spate of embarrassing on-air moments, including a comparison of Senator Bernie Sanders’s campaign to the Nazi invasion of France and an interview with Senator Elizabeth Warren in which the anchor was criticized for a condescending and disbelieving tone.Mr. Matthews, 74, had faced mounting criticism in recent days over a spate of embarrassing on-air moments, including a comparison of Senator Bernie Sanders’s campaign to the Nazi invasion of France and an interview with Senator Elizabeth Warren in which the anchor was criticized for a condescending and disbelieving tone.
On Saturday, the journalist Laura Bassett wrote for GQ magazine online that Mr. Matthews had made inappropriate comments about her appearance in the makeup room of his studio on several occasions when she was a guest on his program. On Saturday, the journalist Laura Bassett published an essay accusing Mr. Matthews of making multiple inappropriate comments about her appearance, reviving longstanding allegations about the anchor’s sexist behavior. By Monday, his position at the news network he helped build had become untenable.
On Monday, a solemn Mr. Matthews began his usual 7 p.m. broadcast by announcing to his viewers, “I’m retiring — this is the last ‘Hardball’ on MSNBC.” Accompanied by his family, Mr. Matthews walked onto the “Hardball” set inside NBC’s Washington bureau shortly before 7 p.m. to deliver a brief farewell. His longtime crew members, who had been told of his plans roughly an hour earlier, looked on stunned.
In a brief monologue, he said he had agreed to step down “after conversations” with network executives, adding that his exit “isn’t for a lack of interest in politics.” He also acknowledged giving “compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK.” “I’m retiring,” Mr. Matthews told viewers in a solemn and brief monologue as his broadcast began at 7. “This is the last ‘Hardball’ on MSNBC.”
“For making such comments in the past, I’m sorry,” Mr. Matthews said. His sudden signoff took many colleagues by surprise — “Wait. What?” the MSNBC anchor Katy Tur wrote on Twitter — but it followed days of discussions with Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC and one of the early executive producers of “Hardball.”
His sudden signoff, though negotiated with senior network executives, came as a shock to some of Mr. Matthews’s most prominent on-air colleagues. Steve Kornacki, the anchor tasked with hosting the remainder of Monday’s “Hardball” episode, appeared stunned as the show returned from a commercial break. Mr. Griffin, who is close with Mr. Matthews, traveled to Washington over the weekend to discuss his future in person, according to three people who requested anonymity to describe sensitive conversations.
On the air on Monday, Mr. Matthews made clear that the timing of his exit was not entirely his choosing. “Obviously, it isn’t for a lack of interest in politics,” he said, going on to apologize for his past insensitive comments.
“Compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK are never OK,” he said. “Not then, and certainly not today.”
MSNBC said a rotating series of hosts would fill Mr. Matthews’s time slot until a permanent replacement was named.
An eminence grise of television news, Mr. Matthews has a pugilistic and red-cheeked persona familiar to viewers from countless election nights and parodies on shows like “Saturday Night Live.” His rat-a-tat political commentary was informed by experience: Before his move into punditry, Mr. Matthews served as a speechwriter in President Jimmy Carter’s administration and spent years as chief of staff to Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., the powerful Democratic speaker of the House.
But the Matthews style was increasingly out of step with the times. In 2017, MSNBC acknowledged that the anchor had been reprimanded in 1999 after making inappropriate remarks to a female colleague, prompting a settlement. In 2008, he was quoted in a magazine profile declaring the actress Kerry Washington “a total knockout.”
MSNBC executives had discussed Mr. Matthews’s looming retirement, with an exit after Election Day likely, according to two people familiar with internal network discussions. There was talk of shifting “Hardball,” which ranked behind Fox News and CNN programming among crucial younger viewers, to a less prominent time slot.
Then came a painful 10-day stretch.
Commenting on the Nevada caucuses, Mr. Matthews compared Mr. Sanders’s victory to Germany’s takeover of France in World War II, drawing the ire of many liberals. He later apologized on-air, saying, “In the days and weeks and months ahead, I will strive to do a better job myself of elevating the political discussion.”
A day later, he was under fire again, this time for repeatedly questioning Ms. Warren about her assertion that Michael R. Bloomberg had mistreated his female employees. Ms. Warren was referring to a widely reported anecdote, and Mr. Matthews’s disbelief was criticized as sexist and dismissive.
On Friday, yet another faux pas: Mr. Matthews confused the identities of two African-American politicians, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and Jaime R. Harrison, a Democrat running for Senate in that state. “Big mistake; mistaken identity, sir, sorry,” Mr. Matthews said after he was corrected on-air.
Then GQ published Ms. Bassett’s article, which said Mr. Matthews, in a makeup room, had looked at her and asked, “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?” Ms. Bassett went on to describe other comments by Mr. Matthews that had made her uncomfortable, writing, “It undermined my ability to do my job well.”
By Saturday, some of the anchor’s confidants had grown concerned about his position at the network. Mr. Matthews had been set to appear that evening as part of MSNBC’s coverage of the South Carolina primary. Instead, he was absent.
Mr. Matthews had been benched, according to a person briefed on private network conversations.
On Monday, Mr. Matthews concluded his MSNBC career by telling viewers that he would miss them and borrowing a line from “Casablanca.” “We’ll always have ‘Hardball,’” he said. “So let’s not say goodbye, but till we meet again.”
When the show returned from a commercial break, Steve Kornacki, the MSNBC anchor tasked with hosting the remainder of the episode, seemed to struggle for words.
“Um, that was a lot to take in,” Mr. Kornacki said, his eyes wide. “I’m sure you’re still absorbing that, and I am, too.”“Um, that was a lot to take in,” Mr. Kornacki said, his eyes wide. “I’m sure you’re still absorbing that, and I am, too.”
The anchor and correspondent Katy Tur posted a note on Twitter about Mr. Matthews’s departure and added the caption: “Wait. What?”
An MSNBC spokesman said on Monday that a rotating series of hosts would fill Mr. Matthews’s time slot until a permanent replacement was found.
Mr. Matthews is an eminence grise of television news, his pugilistic and red-cheeked persona familiar to viewers from countless election nights and parodies on shows like “Saturday Night Live.” He spoke from experience: Before his move into punditry, Mr. Matthews served as a speechwriter in Jimmy Carter’s administration and spent years as chief of staff to Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., the powerful Democratic speaker of the House in the late 1970s and much of the ’80s.
But executives at MSNBC had been discussing a potential retirement plan for Mr. Matthews for months, according to two people familiar with internal network discussions. There was talk of shifting “Hardball” to a less prominent time of day, during MSNBC’s afternoon lineup.
That was before Mr. Matthews faced a sustained bout of online criticism for his on-air comportment in recent weeks. On the previous Monday, he opened “Hardball” by apologizing to viewers for a clumsy metaphor that compared Mr. Sanders’s dominance in the Nevada caucuses to Germany’s takeover of France in World War II.
“In the days and weeks and months ahead, I will strive to do a better job myself of elevating the political discussion,” Mr. Matthews pledged to viewers that night.
But days later, he was under fire again, this time after Ms. Bassett’s article in GQ, in which she said Mr. Matthews, in a makeup room, had looked at her and asked, “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?” She described other comments that had made her uncomfortable, writing, “It undermined my ability to do my job well.”
On Saturday, Mr. Matthews had been scheduled to appear as part of MSNBC’s coverage of the South Carolina primary.
Instead, he was absent. Mr. Matthews had been benched, according to a person briefed on private network conversations.
Marc Tracy contributed reporting.Marc Tracy contributed reporting.