BEAR DOWN

Top MSNBC Anchors Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle Offered Pay Cuts to Keep Their Jobs

The network is reportedly renegotiating deals with star anchors Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle at reduced pay.

MSNBC is reportedly demanding that top anchors like Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle take a pay cut to stay in their current high-profile positions—part of a trend across broadcast media to pare back the sky-high salaries of top network talent. Reid and Ruhle’s apparent pay cuts, first reported by The Ankler, come on the heels of MSNBC’s ratings dipping by 40 percent on the Nielsen charts in November. The media industry newsletter also reported in November that the network gave anchor Rachel Maddow a pay cut of $5 million from her $30 million annual bonanza—though a source at the network told the Daily Beast that the reported salary is “not accurate.” Another figure was not mentioned. Rumors have also flown that the network’s president, Rashida Jones, is leaving in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory last month, though a spokesperson denied the speculation to The New York Post.