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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGood riddance, Chris Matthews.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/phil-donahue-chris-matthews-msnbc-firing_n_2926643Legendary talk show host Phil Donahue appeared on HuffPostLive Thursday to talk about his firing from MSNBC, the medias role during the Iraq War, and his fraught relationship with Chris Matthews.
Donahue was a rare anti-war voice on television during the run-up to the war, but he was fired in early 2003, even though his show was a highly rated one on the network. A leaked memo later revealed that NBC executives considered him a difficult public face for NBC in a time of war.
As it turned out, one of the people reportedly pushing for Donahue to leave was Chris Matthews.
New York magazines Gabriel Sherman wrote about Matthews dealings with Donahue in a 2010 article:
Donahues problems only increased when Chris Matthews let it be known that he wanted Donahue off the air. Matthews was a rising force at the network, with a reported salary of $5 million. He cultivated former G.E. CEO Jack Welch and had the ear of NBC CEO Bob Wright (the two summered together on Nantucket). Matthews saw himself as MSNBCs biggest star, and he was upset that the network was pumping significant resources into Donahues show. In the fall of 2002, U.S. News & World Report ran a gossip item that had Matthews saying over lunch in Washington that if Donahue stays on the air, he could bring down the network.
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Good riddance, Chris Matthews. (Original Post)
pnwmom
Mar 2020
OP
I liked him at one time. He asked the right questions, was astute on most matters and...
DEbluedude
Mar 2020
#10
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)1. Hope the door hits his ass on the way out!!
thewhollytoast
(318 posts)2. And let's make this clear.....
.....Chris Matthews earned his spurs in the late 90's saying Monica, Monica, Monica and making fun of Al Gore.
Toast
JHB
(37,161 posts)9. Yup. You could count on his prurient interests to override journalism
I swear, if you pointed over his shoulder and exclaimed "Oh my God! Are they showing Bill Clinton's penis?!" he would have whipped his head around so fast he'd have snapped his own neck.
Meadowoak
(5,558 posts)3. Should have 'retired' at least 10 years ago!
steventh
(2,143 posts)4. He should have retired before he had Phil Donahue fired.
Buh bye Chris.
misanthrope
(7,428 posts)5. Funny then that Matthews flounced the day Jack Welch died
Life is funny that way.
thewhollytoast
(318 posts)6. Jack Welch is dead? Oh, and I never sent flowers.
GE Still lives.
Toast
Raine
(30,540 posts)7. Karma FINALLY bit Matthews
in his big fat ass!
irisblue
(33,023 posts)8. Chuck Todd should be let go soon
🤞
DEbluedude
(816 posts)10. I liked him at one time. He asked the right questions, was astute on most matters and...
...had experience in the inner workings of politics. More than just a news reader, which most pundits are now. However, I lost any respect I had for him when he drooled over Shrub at the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED shitshow. I think he literally got a boner at the sight of W in the flight suit. It was sickening.