New York Post

Hire learning at MSNBC

-

MSNBC president Rashida Jones has been on a mission to clear her name as one of the execs who courted former Republican National Committee boss Ronna McDaniel to join the network.

McDaniel was quickly dropped after MSNBC talent sparked a revolt over putting the Trump-backing politico on the air.

We’re told that on a 10 a.m. call with talent yesterday, Jones told staffers that outlets have “overstated” her involvemen­t in the network’s decision to hire McDaniel. Insiders further told us it now feels like the “battle of the execs throwing each other under the bus at 30 Rock.”

Sources described a frustrated Jones on the call as being “fed up.” She was “very stern,” said an insider. “It was the most firm she’s been on the situation.” Another source, however, described her as “defensive,” and told us Jones was “talking so fast and saying it’s a bunch of lies in the media.”

“She didn’t say a lot and didn’t take questions. The only thing she said was the media’s lies are distractin­g from their work,” the source said.

Jones kicked off the call, we hear, by explaining, “I do want to take a second, just a second, to address all of the nonsense, false reporting floating around out there. I just want to make sure you guys hear from me on this directly.”

After reports depicted Jones actively participat­ing in recruiting McDaniel, we’re told Jones sent individual texts and made calls to the network’s faces in an effort to refute that coverage.

Multiple sources told us that two heads of NBC News’ politics coverage, Carrie Budoff Brown and Rebecca Blumenstei­n, were the mastermind­s behind McDaniel’s deal. “They wanted this to happen. They’re responsibl­e for all the chaos. They’re the ones who courted her and did all the vetting. They were leading the charge,” said a source, who described the situation as “a big mess.” “Now they’re all throwing each other under the bus.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States