MSNBC says Joy Reid will move into the early evening time slot vacated in March by former “Hardball” host Chris Matthews, marking a milestone for Black women in cable television broadcasting.
Reid will become the first Black woman to anchor a cable news show during prime time. The 51-year-old, who has been a weekend anchor at the cable news network and lately has subbed in the 7 p.m. Eastern time slot, now has the position full time. She will do a Washington-based show dubbed “The ReidOut.” It will premiere July 20.
Matthews had been hosting “Hardball” on the network since 1999, but his retirement in March was reportedly linked to accusations that the veteran journalist made inappropriate comments to women.
Reid said she was intent on “bringing in diverse, smart and accomplished voices to the table on topics that are important to our viewers.” The show will cover topics such as race and police reform.
"Evening and prime-time news has been a universe of white men really since I was growing up," the veteran news anchor told NewsOne. "For somebody who grew up as a nerdy kid obsessed with news, watching 'Nightline' and 'Meet the Press,' the idea of being a part of that family has always just been kind of overwhelming."
Other Black women including Gayle King and Robin Roberts have had successful runs as morning and daytime anchors, but a Black woman does not currently host any evening news shows on network television. Gwen Ifill, a Black journalist who died in 2016, is the only other Black woman to fill an evening anchor chair on a major network. She served as co-anchor of “PBS NewsHour.”
Reid, who was known for hosting MSNBC’s morning show “AM Joy,” had been one of several other hosts, including Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes, who filled in temporarily in the coveted time slot.
Reid brings diversity to a lineup popular with liberals that currently has five white men and a white woman as hosts between 5 p.m. and midnight. As she’s become a staple on MSNBC, she’s also dealt with her own controversies. She issued public apologies in 2018 after old blog posts revealed homophobic and other offensive statements.
“There are things I deeply regret and am embarrassed by, things I would have said differently and issues where my position has changed,” Reid said at the time.
Reid, a native of Brooklyn, is a Harvard University graduate but was raised in Denver. She moved back to Brooklyn at age 17, according to Black Enterprise. She originally hosted her own show, “Reid Report” from 2014 to 2015 on MSNBC before launching “AM Joy” in 2016.
“I am a Black mom, a Black woman, a Black daughter,” Reid told NewsOne. “I am also a journalist who can conceptualize that pain from a unique point of view. Every day I’m in this job, I’m very conscious of that responsibility to make that collective voice heard. It’s unique to do that as a Black woman.”
Reid, who is a wife and mother of three, is the author of books including “Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide,” and New York Times bestseller “The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story.”
On Thursday, several colleagues and fans congratulated Reid on the historic place she will hold as a part of television’s vanguard.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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