Melissa Harris-Perry show is canceled after tensions rise at MSNBC

Instead of hosting her show the week of the Iowa caususes, Perry was introduced briefly as a side by MSNBC’s legal correspondent, Ari Melber. Perry has felt increasingly pushed aside by the network for a long time, which was eerie and unknowingly noted by Melber, when he said on air, “That’s what we call proof of life.”

For weeks, her show of her own name had been pushed aside in favor of covering other news and she felt “worthless” to the network. An email went public describing her feelings of the situation. She complained in a letter to her staff that they weren’t supporting her as they should. Perry says that int he four week stretch of stress, she was told to cover things that wouldn’t have normally been covered on her show. In favor of covering race related topics or hosting her own show live at various locations, she was told to cover election topics.

In efforts to jump their ratings to compete with other networks, MSNBC has been trying to steer their programming towards political issues and heavy on the election coverage. Recently, the network has announced that they are parting ways with the former MSNBC host. Perry noted that is was “terms of severance, not reconciliation.”

Perry went to twitter and posted a picture of “#Nerdland” and said, “inviting diverse new voices to table was a privilege. Grateful for years of support and criticism.” With an interview with The New York Times, Perry noted how upset she was that the network had sidelined her.

Perry noted in her email to her colleagues, “I know who I am. I know why M.H.P. Show is unique and valuable. I will not sell short myself or this show. I am not hungry for empty airtime. I care only substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work.”

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