MSNBC Head Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will undergo surgery next month.

Kutler shared the news of her diagnosis with employees on MSNBC’s editorial call Wednesday morning, as per CNN’s Brian Stelter, after briefing her leadership team and top anchors yesterday.

Kutler told employees that her prognosis is good and that she anticipates being out for just a few weeks.

Kutler, who is a mom to three kids, “also urged her team to take care of themselves and their health — to prioritize their own health even in the midst of an unprecedented news cycle.”

Kutler was named president of MSNBC in February after Rashida Jones, who had led the news network since 2021, stepped down a month prior. Kutler, who came to MSNBC after a long run at CNN, had previously joined the progressive news network as senior vice president of content strategy in 2022.

MSNBC is in the middle of a transition as the network is set to become part of a new company, Versant, which is slated to become home to the majority of NBCU’s cable networks by the end of 2025.

As part of the transition, MSNBC will be reintroduced as My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW, later this year. The rebrand is meant to prevent confusion with NBC News.

“During this time of transition, NBCUniversal decided that our brand requires a new, separate identity,” Kutler wrote in a memo to employees back in August. “This decision now allows us to set our own course and assert our independence as we continue to build our own modern newsgathering operation.”

“The future of our success is not tied to remaining within the NBC family and using the peacock as part of our identity,” the memo continued. “While our name will be changing, who we are and what we do will not. Our commitment to our work and our audiences will not waiver from what the brand promise has been for three decades.”