Former MSNBC anchor Joy Reid found herself in a tense clash with British broadcaster Piers Morgan during her appearance on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on Thursday, July 17. Reid accused Morgan of blindsiding her with racially charged questions tied to her recent exit from the network.
The dispute hinged on Reid’s argument that her race and gender influenced MSNBC’s decision to cancel her show, “The ReidOut,” in February 2025 as part of a larger restructuring. Morgan pressed back against these claims during the segment, insisting that low ratings were the main reason behind the show’s cancellation.
“The ReidOut” had struggled with ratings leading up to its end. Viewership data show the program averaged 973,000 total viewers in February 2025, down 28 percent from its February 2024 audience of 1.3 million. Despite these figures, Reid argued her ratings decline was less steep than those of other MSNBC programs and said she was puzzled by the show’s cancellation.
Throughout the interview, Morgan repeatedly challenged Reid’s narrative, contending that her show was taken off the air due to dwindling popularity, not racial bias. Reid, in response, accused Morgan of deliberately steering the conversation toward racial issues, saying Morgan was “fixated on trying to racialize debates.”
The exchange grew more heated after Morgan interrupted, asserting that Reid had “racialized more conversations during your time at MSNBC than any other host.” This remark seemed to point to Reid’s record of outspoken commentary on race during her MSNBC tenure, including controversial statements about Black Republican politicians and other conservative public figures.
Reid’s time at MSNBC included multiple contentious moments centered on race. She had, for example, once used a slur when referring to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over his conservative views. In 2021, Reid drew criticism for her remarks about South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, suggesting his presence at a Republican news conference was primarily for optics. She directed similar criticism at Florida Representative Byron Donalds that same year.
The conversation also turned to Reid’s earlier controversial blog posts. Morgan confronted her about homophobic content from a Florida-based blog she authored, which became a point of controversy in 2018. These past incidents contributed to the tension already present in their discussion.
Reid’s view on audience response to her approach had come up before, notably in a conversation with podcaster Marc Lamont Hill. In that earlier interview, she argued that being a Black woman made white viewers angrier when they disagreed with her take on social and political issues. During her back-and-forth with Morgan, Reid referenced this previous interview, accusing him of selectively editing her remarks to advance his point.
Morgan rejected Reid’s criticisms of his questioning style, describing her recurring focus on race as an outdated strategy that had lost impact with viewers. He contended that audiences had grown tired of what he saw as her frequent insertion of race into various topics throughout her time on “The ReidOut.”
Their exchange underscored ongoing tensions in cable news over discussions of race and how programming decisions are made. Reid’s departure from MSNBC came amid widespread changes at the network, with several shows canceled or reshuffled as the cable news industry continues to shift.
Throughout the discussion, Reid stuck to her stance that Morgan was using unfair tactics and seeking controversy by highlighting racial elements of their exchange. She claimed this revealed a double standard, particularly in how people of color are treated when they address racial topics compared to their white counterparts.
Both Reid and Morgan held firm during their heated debate, with neither giving ground on their core disagreements about why Reid left MSNBC.