MSNBC cancels far-left host Mehdi Hasan’s program
MSNBC has canceled far-left host Mehdi Hasan’s Sunday night program as part of a major weekend programming shift.
Hasan will lose his weekend show as well as his show on the Peacock streaming service but will stay at the network as an on-camera analyst and fill-in host.
Ayman Mohyeldin will take over Hasan’s one-hour Sunday program as he expands his weekend footprint.
Known as one of the more pugnacious liberal media figures in cable news, Hasan joined MSNBC in 2020 after stints at Al Jazeera and the hard-left site The Intercept.
Hasan's cancellation comes on the heels of inflammatory remarks he made in 2009, long before becoming an MSNBC personality, circulating online last weekend when they were unearthed by New York Post reporter Jon Levine, although it doesn't appear the two are related.
Hasan compared non-Muslims to "animals" and linked homosexuals to "pedophiles" and "sexual deviants." In 2019, Hasan apologized for those comments, calling them "dumb offensive ranty stuff" and admitted that he said "extreme-sounding things" as a young man.
Hasan has been one of the strongest critics of Israel in the mainstream media during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and he is known for his strident social media commentary and clashes with conservatives and other political foes.
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Hasan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
MSNBC is hardly moving away from progressive commentary with the move. In another programming decision this week, it's launching a weekend morning ensemble show "The Weekend," which will be hosted by former Biden aide Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez, the daughter of embattled Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, and Michael Steele, the former Republican chairman who now openly detests the party.
This is a developing story, more to come…
Fox News’ David Rutz and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.