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Chris Matthews retiring (1 Viewer)

Matthews said, “Let me start with my headline tonight. I’m retiring. This is the last ‘Hardball’ on MSNBC, and obviously, this isn’t for lack of interest in politics. As you can tell, I have loved every minute of my 20 years as host as ‘Hardball.’ Every morning I read the papers, I’m gung-ho to get to work. Not many people have had this privilege. I love working with the producers and the conversations we’ve had over how to report the news. I love having the connection with you, the good people who watch. I’ve learned who you are, bumping into you on the sidewalk or waiting in an airport and saying hello. You’re like me. I hear from your kids and grandchildren. Who says my dad loves you, my grandmother loves you. Or my husband watched it until the end.”

He continued, “After my conversation with NBC, I decided tonight will be my last ‘Hardball.’ I’ll tell you why. The younger generations are ready to take the reins. We see them in politics, in the media, in fighting for their causes. They are improving the workplace. We are talking about better standards than we grew up with, fair standards. A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other. Compliments on a woman’s appearance some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK were never OK. Certainly not today. For making such comments in the past, I’m sorry. ”

He added, “I’m very proud of the work I’ve done here. Long before I went on television, I worked for years in politics, was a newspaper columnist and author. I’m working on another book. I’ll continue to write and talk about politics and cheer on my producers and crew here in Washington and New York and my MSNBC colleagues. They will continue to produce great journalism in the years ahead. For those who have gotten in the habit of watching ‘Hardball’ every night, I hope you’re going to miss me because I’m going to miss you. Remember Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. We will always have ‘Hardball,’ let’s not say goodbye, but ’til we meet again.”

:cry:

 
Bye Felicia. He was a buffoon in my mind. Living in an era that long passed us by. 

 
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Great host.  A wealth of knowledge who was not wonkish.  Knew what to focus on.

Has lost a bit last few years.  Not as nimble in the moment and his voice has really gone. 

We will continue to see him a lot I imagine.

 
This is the epitome of damning someone with faint praise, but to the extent that Matthews jumped rather than being pushed -- and that's certainly a debatable proposition -- I actually give him some credit here. Too many guys (and they're almost always guys) hang on way past their due date. At least Matthews had the self-awareness to get out after saying a few mildly embarrassing things rather than waiting until he made a really idiotic career killer of a statement a la Don Imus or Jimmy the Greek. Mistaking one African American politician for another was dumb, but it's not going to be in the first paragraph of his obituary the way "nappy headed hoes" was for Imus.

 
Always enjoyed his shows.  While I frequently disagreed with him politically, he used to have some really good guests and wouldn't pull punches for where the politics of a situation stood in his mind.  He wasn't always right, but he discussed things a lot more honestly than the cheerleader type hosts do today.  Always enjoyed his segments with Howard Fineman.

 
My favorite political analyst of all time. Politics won’t be the same without Hardball. That said, Chris is right, it’s time for him to leave.  Disappointing to read the accounts of his inappropriate comments to women.  
 

More Steve Kornacki please.  

 
The Tim Scott thing was awful though. If you make a mistake like that at work you'd probably reconsider whether you should be manning the controls too.

 
Lutherman2112 said:
I believe this was the nudge to the exit door for Matthews:

https://www.gq.com/story/chris-matthews-experience
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Honestly, I hope that's the extent of it. Articles like this suggest a guy who's unable to adjust to new realities, but they don't suggest a Weinstein/Lauer/Rose-level sexual predator. If that's true, then a voluntary retirement seems like the appropriate response. But if he crossed the line further than that, he shouldn't just be allowed to go away quietly. I'm guessing if there's more to come out we will find out about it soon enough.

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
This may be it, I think there's a rumbling of inappropriate behavior in the background.

Apparently Matthews just got up and left mid-show?

I also get the sense of 'Old Guy sick of the New Rules These Kids around here are pushing' vibe from him. He just got tired of the hassle and left.
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I havent watched him in years; probably since the 2008 election. 

Was years ago but his staff nicknamed him Tweety for the color he chose to dye his hair.

 
Nipsey said:
Hayes addressed on his show right after. I didn't watch Maddow but I'm guessing she did too.
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I don't think Maddow discussed it, but she usually doesn't comment on such things. I remember she said absolutely nothing after Keith Olbermann was fired or quit from MSNBC (nor on anyone else who has left the network abruptly).

 
squistion said:
I don't think Maddow discussed it, but she usually doesn't comment on such things. I remember she said absolutely nothing after Keith Olbermann was fired or quit from MSNBC (nor on anyone else who has left the network abruptly).
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She did interview Ronan Farrow about his experience leaving NBC News after they killed the Weinstein story. 

 
zftcg said:
She did interview Ronan Farrow about his experience leaving NBC News after they killed the Weinstein story. 
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But that wasn't after the MSNBC show he was hosting was dropped. I was referring to her commenting about the departure of her on the air MSNBC colleagues after they left abruptly (either fired or quit). 

 
squistion said:
But that wasn't after the MSNBC show he was hosting was dropped. I was referring to her commenting about the departure of her on the air MSNBC colleagues after they left abruptly (either fired or quit). 
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Yeah, I don't follow Maddow that closely and don't really care. I just read that as implying she shies away from talking about in-house issues, and pointed out that Farrow is a counterexample.

 
Guy was lightly hitting on an attractive woman. Was he being offensive? Sheesh.

My god.....times have changed....big time. Because this is weak. Just freaking weak sauce. 

 
zftcg said:
Honestly, I hope that's the extent of it. Articles like this suggest a guy who's unable to adjust to new realities, but they don't suggest a Weinstein/Lauer/Rose-level sexual predator. If that's true, then a voluntary retirement seems like the appropriate response. But if he crossed the line further than that, he shouldn't just be allowed to go away quietly. I'm guessing if there's more to come out we will find out about it soon enough.
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The quotes I read from the woman he offended......if that was all......WEAK. 

 
Todem said:
The quotes I read from the woman he offended......if that was all......WEAK. 
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Weak in the sense that he shouldn't have lost his job over it, or in the sense that you don't think there was anything wrong with what he said? I mean, if I had an older male employee who was constantly commenting on his younger coworkers' looks in a way that made them feel uncomfortable, I would absolutely tell him to cut it out. And if he was slipping in other ways as well, I might also suggest that maybe it was time for him to move on. If that's the way it went down with Matthews, I have no problem with it.

 
zftcg said:
Weak in the sense that he shouldn't have lost his job over it, or in the sense that you don't think there was anything wrong with what he said? I mean, if I had an older male employee who was constantly commenting on his younger coworkers' looks in a way that made them feel uncomfortable, I would absolutely tell him to cut it out. And if he was slipping in other ways as well, I might also suggest that maybe it was time for him to move on. If that's the way it went down with Matthews, I have no problem with it.
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I think losing his job over this was a bit harsh. I did not find what he said (if that is indeed all that was said) to be incredibly crude nor tasteless. He simply hit on a woman. Not proper in the work place in this day an age...I get it. But it was not something I felt was a fire-able offense. I think this is getting over blown. It is actually kinda scary. You literally cannot compliment women anymore in the workplace. You can't say "your new hair style looks great" or "Love your new dress". I mean you wear clothing and do hair to be noticed. To be attractive. And then when you get the response your looking for it can be taken as sexual harassment. Now that example is an extreme case. But this is really getting stupid.

He simply found her attractive and thought he was being complimentary. I do not think he was propositioning her.  

 
Todem said:
I think losing his job over this was a bit harsh. I did not find what he said (if that is indeed all that was said) to be incredibly crude nor tasteless. He simply hit on a woman. Not proper in the work place in this day an age...I get it. But it was not something I felt was a fire-able offense. I think this is getting over blown. It is actually kinda scary. You literally cannot compliment women anymore in the workplace. You can't say "your new hair style looks great" or "Love your new dress". I mean you wear clothing and do hair to be noticed. To be attractive. And then when you get the response your looking for it can be taken as sexual harassment. Now that example is an extreme case. But this is really getting stupid.

He simply found her attractive and thought he was being complimentary. I do not think he was propositioning her.  
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I agree it's not a fireable offense. We don't know exactly what happened, but given the way NBC handled other departures like Lauer's, it's reasonable to assume he had some choice in the matter. Based on what I've heard, I don't think he was fired. But I think stories like this, along with his other recent screw-ups (mistaking Tim Scott for Jamie Harrison) may have made him and/or his bosses realize he was losing a step, and it was probably better to get out now before things got worse.

As for inappropriate workplace comments, at this point if a guy in the workplace hasn't figured out the difference between a genuine compliment and a creepy come-on, that's on him. And if you do get it wrong, learn from the experience and don't keep doing it. I've just never bought this notion that men suddenly have to watch what they say and have no idea where the line is. Treat women with respect, treat them as equals, and you are very unlikely to have any problems. (Also, forget who said this, but I saw someone pointing out on Twitter that women have had to spend the past few decades constantly worrying about what they say, what they wear, how they react to their bosses' comments, etc., so they're not too sympathetic now that the burden has shifted ever-so-slightly in the other direction.)

 
zftcg said:
I agree it's not a fireable offense. We don't know exactly what happened, but given the way NBC handled other departures like Lauer's, it's reasonable to assume he had some choice in the matter. Based on what I've heard, I don't think he was fired. But I think stories like this, along with his other recent screw-ups (mistaking Tim Scott for Jamie Harrison) may have made him and/or his bosses realize he was losing a step, and it was probably better to get out now before things got worse.

As for inappropriate workplace comments, at this point if a guy in the workplace hasn't figured out the difference between a genuine compliment and a creepy come-on, that's on him. And if you do get it wrong, learn from the experience and don't keep doing it. I've just never bought this notion that men suddenly have to watch what they say and have no idea where the line is. Treat women with respect, treat them as equals, and you are very unlikely to have any problems. (Also, forget who said this, but I saw someone pointing out on Twitter that women have had to spend the past few decades constantly worrying about what they say, what they wear, how they react to their bosses' comments, etc., so they're not too sympathetic now that the burden has shifted ever-so-slightly in the other direction.)
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While I agree there is a line, I think that line is constantly changing.  It's either ok, or it's not okay,  It can't be both.

Let's put it this way:  If Brad Pitt had said the same things do you think this same reporter would have been offended?  Been "shaken to the core"?  I HIGHLY doubt it.  I think a good portion of women are using this to their advantage and crying "outrage!" only if the right guy isn't complimenting them.

 
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BladeRunner said:
Let's put it this way:  If Brad Pitt had said the same things do you think this same reporter would have been offended?  Been "shaken to the core"?  I HIGHLY doubt it.  I think a good portion of women are using this to their advantage and crying "outrage!" only if the right guy isn't complimenting them.
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Totally agree.  A lot of younger people apparently think that a guy (or girl for that matter) cold approaching someone in a bar or in public to hit on them is, with zero gray area, creepy.  

As for Matthews' departure, it seems like the cancel culture running amuck again.  I wasn't really a fan of his, but being forced out the way he apparently was seems a bit harsh, but welcome to 2020. 

 
BladeRunner said:
While I agree there is a line, I think that line is constantly changing.  It's either ok, or it's not okay,  It can't be both.

Let's put it this way:  If Brad Pitt had said the same things do you think this same reporter would have been offended?  Been "shaken to the core"?  I HIGHLY doubt it.  I think a good portion of women are using this to their advantage and crying "outrage!" only if the right guy isn't complimenting them.
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OK, first of all, as we've learned in the past few years from the #MeToo movement, there were plenty of attractive guys doing horrible things to women. It wasn't just the schlubs like Weinstein.

Second, I think most women in a professional setting would not appreciate being objectified or reduced to their appearance, regardless of what the guy looked like. That's particularly the case if the guy is their boss or, as in Matthews' case, in a position of relative power over them.

But let's assume for a second that you're right, and that a come-on from Brad Pitt would be more welcome than one from Chris Matthews. It remains the women's prerogative to decide how they want to respond to his comments. It certainly doesn't absolve Pitt of his responsibility to assess the situation and not do anything creepy. If Brad Pitt were regularly harassing the production assistants and makeup artists on set, it's not like he could defend himself by saying, "I'm Brad Pitt. Every woman wants to sleep with me, so they're not allowed to be offended if I comment on their appearance."

Finally, I don't think this was what you intended to convey, but just FYI, the notion that women are more than willing to give it up as long as the guy is hot sounds like the kind of thing you hear in incel chatrooms 

 
Bill Maher defense of Matthews last night seem to be that women need to be more accepting of the fact that men especially old ones are creepy.  That really doesn't work anymore and really just laziness.  

I do agree with Bill on his points of how people calling him racist because of his French analogy toward Bernie Sanders and getting two black men names wrong was pretty dumb. 

 
hammerva said:
Bill Maher defense of Matthews last night seem to be that women need to be more accepting of the fact that men especially old ones are creepy.  That really doesn't work anymore and really just laziness.  

I do agree with Bill on his points of how people calling him racist because of his French analogy toward Bernie Sanders and getting two black men names wrong was pretty dumb. 
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I was half watching during this but I thought he along with the woman guest (the 2 male guest weren’t touching this :lol:  ) were saying that from what has been brought to light so far shouldn’t mean someone gets canned. 

 
hammerva said:
Bill Maher defense of Matthews last night seem to be that women need to be more accepting of the fact that men especially old ones are creepy.  That really doesn't work anymore and really just laziness.  

I do agree with Bill on his points of how people calling him racist because of his French analogy toward Bernie Sanders and getting two black men names wrong was pretty dumb. 
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I think there's a legitimate argument to be made that #metoo and #pc culture goes too far when it starts regulating opinions instead of behavior. I'm not sure if that happened with Matthews, though.

 
They canned Mathews because he hasnt been that strong for a while now.  Election year.  Lot of eyeballs.  Good time to launch a new face.

 
you suck at the sugartit that is sponsored media, you go down when the half-dozen companies who run it say you go down. and j'accusers dont have to be right, just noisy. entertainers dont like that. too frikkin bad

Maher got killed when he was sponsored, is safe now that he isnt, so he said sumn

 
wikkidpissah said:
you suck at the sugartit that is sponsored media, you go down when the half-dozen companies who run it say you go down. and j'accusers dont have to be right, just noisy. entertainers dont like that. too frikkin bad

Maher got killed when he was sponsored, is safe now that he isnt, so he said sumn
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All true. Bill O'Reilly was fine until his sponsors started wavering. Megyn Kelly's race-baity schtick didn't bother anyone when she was at Fox, but as soon as she tried it at NBC, sponsors started freaking out, and she was gone.

 
[scooter] said:
All true. Bill O'Reilly was fine until his sponsors started wavering. Megyn Kelly's race-baity schtick didn't bother anyone when she was at Fox, but as soon as she tried it at NBC, sponsors started freaking out, and she was gone.
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Full circle - Matthews was a Roger Ailes hire @ America's Talking, which became MSNBC. That's why he's the blusteriest liberal

 
hammerva said:
Bill Maher defense of Matthews last night seem to be that women need to be more accepting of the fact that men especially old ones are creepy.  That really doesn't work anymore and really just laziness.  

I do agree with Bill on his points of how people calling him racist because of his French analogy toward Bernie Sanders and getting two black men names wrong was pretty dumb. 
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Maher dropped a N-bomb on live TV and survived.

 
Da Guru said:
Maher dropped a N-bomb on live TV and survived.
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As he should have.

I am not a fan of Maher. I think he's a bit of a racist, actually. But I also think it's wrong to bow down to PC thugs and heckler's vetos every time a special interest group expresses outrage.

 
[scooter] said:
As he should have.

I am not a fan of Maher. I think he's a bit of a racist, actually. But I also think it's wrong to bow down to PC thugs and heckler's vetos every time a special interest group expresses outrage.
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I agree.   :thumbup:     

 
zftcg said:
Second, I think most women in a professional setting would not appreciate being objectified or reduced to their appearance, regardless of what the guy looked like.
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Actually, and I don't think this is an old wives' tale, women's perception of what is and isn't harassment correlates very highly with their opinion of the attractiveness of the other person. Empirical studies say so. Experience says so. 

 
rockaction said:
Actually, and I don't think this is an old wives' tale, women's perception of what is and isn't harassment correlates very highly with their opinion of the attractiveness of the other person. Empirical studies say so. Experience says so. 
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Which is why ugly guys need to be a protected class.  

 
Laura Bassett, the GQ columnist who last month publicly accused MSNBC’s Chris Matthews of sexually harassing her in the makeup room before her appearance on his show Hardball, has fired back at comedian and Real Time host Bill Maher. “Hey @billmaher how’s this for fragile: #### you,” Bassett tweeted on Saturday morning. 

LOL!

For the record I am a big fan of Maher, love his show.

 
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