Out lesbian MSNBC TV personality Rachel Maddow is considering leaving the “Rachel Maddow Show” and MSNBC, reports the Daily Beast.
Sources told the Daily Beast that the 48-year-old LGBTQ media icon is “seriously considering” exiting the job to spend more time with her family, focus on her personal life, and pursue opportunities in podcasting as her contract comes to a close early next year. Individuals familiar with the situation told the Daily Beast that Maddow is weighing whether to “take her brand elsewhere” or launch a new media company.
Maddow has been the face of the show since 2008, where she has covered a range of topics, from daily news to state and national politics. But outside of the television realm, Maddow snagged a Grammy nomination for her audiobook, “Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth.” In an email to the Daily Beast, MSNBC spokesperson Lorie Acio declined to comment on Maddow’s future with MSNBC.
“We don’t comment on employee matters,” Acio said in a written statement to the Daily Beast.
Mark Shapiro, a media executive and president of the entertainment agency Endeavor, is representing Maddow in her contract negotiations at NBCUniversal. In a statement, Shapiro brushed off all talks of Maddow leaving the position.
“Nothing has been decided,” Shapiro told the Daily Beast. “We are deep into it with NBCUniversal, and Rachel has an excellent relationship with them.”
Maddow has been married to Susan Mikula, an artist, and photographer, since the late 1990s. The couple has a home in Massachusetts.
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