Rashida Spins Out

Status Scoop | Rashida Jones on Tuesday morning stepped down as president of MSNBC, ending her nearly four-year run as the head of the progressive network, according to people familiar with the matter.

Jones shared the news of her departure with top MSNBC anchors on Tuesday morning. She is scheduled to address staff during the network’s daily editorial meeting.

The move was largely expected. We first reported in December about the possibility that Jones would exit in early 2025.

The exit by Jones comes at a precarious time for MSNBC. Outside Donald Trump taking back the White House, MSNBC is one of the cable channels that parent company NBCUniversal is spinning off into a separate publicly traded entity called SpinCo. That company is set to be led by Mark Lazarus, a veteran NBCU executive.

In the interim, Lazarus has appointed Rebecca Kutler, senior vice president of content strategy, to lead the network.

During her time at MSNBC, Jones led the network to ratings highs, though the channel has seen its viewership numbers slip considerably since Trump’s election. Jones, the first Black woman to run a major cable news network, also sought to establish a post-linear future for MSNBC as cable cutting threatens the channel’s long term existence, wading into live events and working on building a streamer.