OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is taking a hiatus from her prime time show on the left-leaning network.
“Rachel Maddow plans to step away from her show for a few weeks beginning this Friday, with plans to use the time to develop other projects for NBCUniversal, the MSNBC host announced on her show Monday night. Maddow said that one of those projects is a movie adaptation of her book Bag Man, which will be produced by Lorne Michaels and directed by Ben Stiller,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Hollywood Reporter added in its report:
An MSNBC source said that a rotating group of hosts is expected to fill in for her while she’s gone. Maddow is expected to continue appearing on special event coverage, such as the State of the Union address, which is slated to be held on March 1, and she confirmed as much on her show.
It isn’t immediately clear how long Maddow will be off her show (the source said it would be “several weeks”). However, Maddow suggested on her program that she would be back in April, which would imply that she will be out for all of February and March.
The hiatus stems from Maddow’s new deal with NBCUniversal, signed last August, that included developing a broad range of new projects for the company, with an expectation that she would cut back on her nightly MSNBC duties.
The Bag Man podcast (and more) here: https://t.co/4YwudFl6XH
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) February 1, 2022
Rachel Maddow is expected to tell her viewers Monday that she's taking a hiatus of several weeks from her weeknight MSNBC show. A person with knowledge of the plans tells @AP Maddow plans to work on a new podcast for NBC Universal. https://t.co/Q0XOWB1U0i
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 31, 2022
Maddow made the announcement on Monday night during the opening monologue of her MSNBC show.
“I’m going to take a little bit of time off from this show to go help with the movie. And also to work on a few other things that I have cooking with NBC right now, including a new podcast,” Maddow said.
“So just like late-night hosts sometimes go on hiatus in their shows, I’m going to go on hiatus for a little bit here from this show so I can work on some of those other projects,” she added. “In addition to the movie, the Bag Man movie and the podcast that I’m working on, the paperback of the Bag Man book is also coming out in just a few weeks, it’s coming out in April, there’s an adaptation of a different book that I want to try to make for TV as well that I’ve just started working on. There’s all this stuff I’ve been working on that I want to… work some more on.”
“But it is all for the good! I will be here through Thursday this week and then the – highest and I’m just going to be off for a few. Weeks off and doing the shot, not really going anywhere. I’ll be back for the state of the union and for other big news events in the meantime. I will also be back during the show again the frail even miss me,” Maddow continued.
“I moved back in April! And there may eventually be another hiatus again sometime in the future, but for now, we are just taking it one step at a time. Again, I will be here through Thursday this week. And of course, while I’m away this show will continue to be run by the absolute best producers of this entire business and the amazing staff of the show. Don’t worry, you will be in very, very good hands. Change is good, changes absolutely terrifying. But in this case, it is good,” she concluded.
WATCH:
