Chris Matthews’ MSNBC Colleagues Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Respond to ‘Hardball’ Host’s Sudden Retirement

Morning Joe‘s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have weighed in on former MSNBC colleague Chris Matthews‘ sudden on-air retirement announcement and the end of his long-running news program Hardball Monday night. In a moment that surprised even Steve Kornacki, who took over the night’s show following Matthews’ retirement announcement, Matthews seemingly addressed allegations made by journalist Laura Bassett last week in GQ Magazine that he had “inappropriately” flirted with her, making her uncomfortable before appearing on air.

“Compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, once incorrectly would have thought were OK, they were never OK,” Matthews said, in part, Monday. “Not then, and certainly not today, and for making such comments in the past, I am sorry.”

On Morning Joe Tuesday, Scarborough called Matthews “all too human,” and Brzezinski wondered about the cultural implications of the #MeToo movement and “cancel culture.”

“All too human?” Scarborough asked. “Yeah, I guess so but those of us still playing or reporting on the hardball of politics could stand a bit more of this humanity these days. Even if it sometimes reveals our flaw, exposes our weaknesses and, yes, even shows our blind spots. Chris gave us his all every night and that’s why were were wiping tears from our eyes last night and why we’re going to miss him terribly tonight and every night when 7 o’clock rolls around. Thank you Chris for all you’ve done…”

Brzezinski added, “As a woman I want to say this — I loved working with Chris Matthews. I really enjoyed being his colleague. I understand the important changes around this so-called cancel culture – they’re important, they’re hard, they’re painful and in many cases they are necessary.”

“I do wonder at this point though, as we move forward and we look at this and what happened here, if there might be a better way for all of us in the future where we work through this and get to a better place,” she continued. “But for now I’ll just say I’ll miss him every night at 7 p.m., but I remain his friend.”

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