Progressive host Mehdi Hasan and MSNBC parted ways after the network scaled back his role there, as the firebrand anchor didn't want to be "benched" at such a critical news period.
In November, MSNBC announced Hasan would lose his weekend show and his show on the Peacock streaming service, adding he would stay at the network as an on-camera analyst and fill-in host. He was rarely used as an analyst from the announcement through his Sunday night farewell, with only a single on-air appearance outside of his Sunday program, according to a search of Grabien transcripts.
An MSNBC insider said there was no real plan for Hasan after it decided to cancel his show and there was still enough time left on his contract that it made sense for them to go their separate ways. The original plan was for Hasan to continue to serve as a guest on other shows and a substitute host, but he didn't "want to be inadvertently or deliberately benched in this crucial time period," as 2024 begins with a presidential election race heating up and wars in Gaza and Ukraine still raging.
"I think he's grown up enough to be past the disrespect part," the insider told Fox News Digital. "There just wasn't going to be a meaningful role for him and his expertise at MSNBC," adding he wanted more freedom and editorial control than he was getting at 30 Rock.
Hasan confirmed as much during his final show on Sunday, alluding to the major world events going on, including former President Trump's numerous legal issues, before surprising viewers with news he was leaving the network altogether.
"As we begin 2024, with an election coming, a war still ongoing, and too many Trump trials honestly to even keep track of, and with this show going away, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to look for a new challenge. Tonight is not just my final episode of ‘The Mehdi Hasan Show,’ it’s my last day with MSNBC. Yes, I’ve decided to leave," Hasan told viewers.
Many MSNBC personalities have publicly praised him on social media since his exit was announced, and the end of his show was met with disappointment inside the network. Left-wing reporter Ben Collins complained on the social media platform Threads that the show's termination happened under "wildly shady circumstances." Marc Lamont Hill, an Al Jazeera English host and friend of Hasan's, tied his cancellation to Hasan's criticism of Israel and compared it to the sudden ouster in 2022 of Tiffany Cross.
"People who challenge power are kicked off of MSNBC. That's just a fact," Hill said on his YouTube channel on Monday.
Hasan came to NBC after stints at Al Jazeera and The Intercept. He launched "The Mehdi Hasan Show" on Peacock in 2020 and then began hosting the show Sunday nights on MSNBC in 2021. Known for his combative social media presence, the liberal host was more willing than other MSNBC figures to criticize President Biden and the Democratic Party during his tenure, albeit from the left when he did so.
He was also a sharp critic of Israel's response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack and its ongoing war in Gaza, while also condemning the Hamas attack itself.
One of the most prominent Muslim voices in cable news, inflammatory remarks he made in 2009 began circulating online again last year, when he compared non-Muslims to "animals" and linked homosexuals to "pedophiles" and "sexual deviants." New York Post reporter Jon Levine said it's "hard to imagine MSNBC allowing someone on television who said similar things about a different religion."
In 2019, Hasan apologized for those comments, calling them "dumb offensive ranty stuff" and admitted that he said "extreme-sounding things" as a young man. It does not appear his cancellation was related to those remarks, however, which had been reported before NBC hired him.
In 2021, Hasan rushed to defend Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who suggested the U.S. and Israel were just as guilty of "war crimes" as terrorist groups like Hamas and the Taliban. He also compared past Israeli airstrikes against Hamas in Gaza to Russia bombing Ukraine in March 2022 in the early weeks of the ongoing European war and held a combative interview with Israeli advisor Mark Regev.
It is not immediately clear what Hasan will do next.
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MSNBC didn't respond to a request for comment.
