The married cohosts suddenly began boasting perfect attendance following the MS NOW rebranding
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have been chronically absent from their own show in recent months, with a remarkably high volume of days off. Morning Joe, which may be the most important show at the network formerly known as MSNBC, was without at least one of its married cohosts for literally dozens of episodes. But after MSNBC’s forced rebranding to MS NOW, the couple suddenly began boasting perfect attendance.
The chronic absenteeism was extraordinary even for MS NOW, which is notoriously paying Rachel Maddow about $25 million a year to work one day per week. Between May 27 and Nov. 15, Scarborough and Brzezinski appeared together on just 70 of 124 episodes, a Washington Free Beacon review found. Scarborough missed 29 shows, while Brzezinski skipped 41—or 1 out of every 3 workdays. In July, she was out for two consecutive weeks, appearing on only about half of that month’s episodes.
Neither was present for 16 shows, leaving Morning Joe‘s C-list—Jonathan Lemire, Willie Geist, and Katty Kay—to fill in.
“I’m Katty Kay, in for Joe, Mika, and Willie,” Kay said at the top of the Aug. 29 episode. “Everybody’s off except me. I’m so sorry.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski primarily broadcast from a studio built at their home in exclusive Jupiter, Fla. As the show is live at 6 a.m., it has raised some questions during the many absences about whether one spouse is just sleeping in while the other hosts the program.
The couple’s chronic absenteeism has reportedly frustrated long-suffering staffers, leading to “chaos” and “a workplace in meltdown,” according to entertainment reporter Robert Shuter, the former executive editor of the American edition of OK! “There’s no leadership,” a senior producer told Shuter. “Every day is a scramble. Who’s hosting? What’s the tone? Who’s running the ship? No one knows.”
Another insider complained, “They have special deals, endless vacation time—but this summer went too far. We’re headed into an election year, and we’re stuck with empty chairs.”
Scarborough and Brzezinski’s attendance suddenly turned around starting Nov. 12, just days before MSNBC was forced to switch its name to MS NOW due to Comcast offloading the flailing network onto a spinoff company, Versant, and then deciding, belatedly, to strip MSNBC of the “NBC.” The couple’s ongoing perfect attendance streak—three whole weeks—is their longest since Memorial Day. In fact, their record before Nov. 12 was a whopping seven days in July, marking one of the only two full weeks they both worked during that period.
The network has tightened its belt since Comcast announced it was cutting ties. Then-MSNBC laid off about 100 staffers earlier this year, including the far-left firebrand Joy Reid, and more layoffs are expected to come. Scarborough and Brzezinski, however, long known to be shrewd negotiators, are believed to have secured themselves a compensation package in the same league as Maddow’s.
Scarborough and Brzezinski appear to have had divided attention as they launch and expand their products. Along with a newsletter they debuted in October, Scarborough—who compared MS NOW to “a tech startup”—told Axios they were also planning to expand their podcast and host virtual town halls. It’s not clear if the couple or Versant own these products, and who’s paying for the staff who will write the emails and produce the podcasts and town halls.
