Ex-MSNBC host Tiffany Cross goes off on network about her treatment: I had my 'intelligence questioned'

Former MSNBC host Tiffany Cross said Thursday she faced "constant criticism" from network executives who questioned her intelligence and wanted her to be part of the anti-Trump "echo chamber."

MSNBC suddenly severed ties with Cross in November 2022, deciding not to renew her contract after two years. At the time, an MSNBC source told Fox News Digital that the move was made because of "repeated bad behavior on and off-air" and "bad judgment."

Cross, who hosted the weekend program "The Cross Connection," told her side of the story on the latest episode of her new podcast, "Native Land Pod," which she hosts alongside by former CNN contributor Angela Rye and former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.

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Cross emerged as a regular guest host for Joy Reid’s then-weekend MSNBC program which was "really part of the audition process" to land a paid gig at the network. She was also invited to appear on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" to promote a book but said she ended up disagreeing with host Joe Scarborough on air; she later referred in the podcast to him as the network's "favorite White boy."

"I got off air, we were trending. Every single time I did ‘Morning Joe’ we were trending," Cross said. "Tiffany Cross was trending on ‘Morning Joe.’"

Cross said she was then selected by NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde in 2020 to host a weekend show. She told "Native Land Pod" listeners that she was "obviously showing up for Black folks," but wanted to put on a show that could be consumed by people from different backgrounds, too.

"I want you all to know, every single week from the start of my show to the very last show I did, it was a battle," Cross said. "It was a battle to cover things that I wanted to talk about. The network’s philosophy was Trump, Trump, Trump. They wanted me to be part of the echo chamber."

Cross insisted she "fought" network honchos on a regular basis. 

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"I wanted to cover things like inhumane treatment in prisons, that’s something that disproportionately impacts my community. Mental health among Black men, the erasure of Afro-Latinos in the Latino community, land battles of the indigenous, Native Americans trying to get their family artifacts back from museums right here in America. Black farmers, reaching Latino voters, things like that," Cross said.

"When I would fight these battles, I know ya’ll know exactly what I mean, I was spoken to in the most condescending ways. I mean, anything from being told the definition of news… I would have somebody sit across from me and explain to me how news works," she continued. "I had my intelligence questioned."

Cross reiterated that MSNBC only cared about coverage of then-President Trump.

"They wanted me to use the same recycled faces you see all the time, so I really found the constant criticism debilitating at times, but mostly confusing," Cross said, citing her program's ratings. 

"We were routinely the highest rated show of the entire weekend," Cross said. "So, I was scratching my head like ‘What ya’ll so mad about?’" 

Smith said that her scripts were scrutinized and nitpicked by MSNBC executives who don’t treat White males the same way. 

"There is a burden to speaking the truth. It comes with consequence and when you find yourself as the messenger, there is a power structure in place that is not welcoming to our voices," Cross said. "I was prepared for these battles because I had been fighting them my entire career."

Cross noted that Rashida Jones, a Black woman, was eventually brought in to run MSNBC. However, Cross said new leadership did not allow her to defend herself from criticism of her program.

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Cross then said that her infamous reference of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as "Justice Pubic Hair on My Coke Can" further irked leadership, as did her 2022 comment on Comedy Central that Florida should be "castrated" from the rest of the country. 

"This was four days before [the 2022] midterms and one day before my show was going to air, we booked an exclusive sit down with Stacey Abrams… that morning I got a call from the president of the network saying they were not going to be renewing my contract, which was up in a month, and that my viewers would not even be given the courtesy or the respect of me not being able to sign off or have a final show," Cross said. 

"When that happens, it suggests to other people in the industry that this person is so unhireable that we could not trust her with a live mic," she continued. "The firing was very abrupt and it was very intentional to my audience, my viewers, that you are not the type of viewers that the company cares about. I was devastated when my show was canceled. I was so sad." 

Cross said that she was never given a reason why she was dismissed but suspects that irking "White conservatives" played a role. She also accused MSNBC of planting negative stories about her in the press that were "filled with outright lies," and referenced reports that Jones tried to control the narrative about Cross' firing with a surprise visit to the set of "The View" in 2022.

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"The network began attacking me," Cross said. "They planted hit pieces in the press. The president of the network began a bizarre, unhinged tour where she was on damage control, I don't know what she was trying to do."

MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.