During MSNBC’s Super Tuesday Democratic primary coverage on Tuesday, anchor Brian Williams addressed the elephant in the room and declared that the network’s panel was “missing” now-former Hardball host, who reluctantly and abruptly retired on Monday.

“Tonight, we are missing our mutual friend, who I would never normally describe as retiring, Chris Matthews,” Williams said to Rev. Al Sharpton before noting Matthews would have “loved” the politics surrounding Tuesday night’s results.

Williams’ warm remarks about his ex-colleague, who exited amid controversy surrounding accusations of sexism and multiple on-air controversies, came hours after his colleagues at Morning Joe tearfully lamented the “so-called cancel culture” that seemingly pushed Matthews out.