MSNBC Staffers Hit With Bed Bugs at Manhattan Headquarters Ahead of Super Tuesday Coverage
March 5 2024, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
MSNBC staffers were left scrambling this week when the network’s Manhattan headquarters was infested with bed bugs, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The icky incident reportedly took place on Sunday – just hours before MSNBC was scheduled to start its coverage of this year’s Super Tuesday.
According to a memo issued by the network, at least one “unidentified insect” was spotted on Sunday in studio 3A of the network’s 30 Rock headquarters.
Studio 3A is home to both The Rachel Maddow Show as well as MSNBC’s special election coverage, and the studio was temporarily shuttered “out of an abundance of caution” for the network’s staffers.
“They are scrambling,” one NBC insider spilled to the New York Post on Monday. “They’ve already been borrowing an unused local studio for some shows in recent weeks. So studio space is tight.”
The network’s memo also announced that an exterminator was brought in to treat not just studio 3A but also the studio’s green rooms and control rooms.
“An environmental K-9 detection team will ensure the remediation efforts were complete and will take an extra pass, through extended areas of newsrooms,” the memo noted.
Another NBC insider revealed that studio 3A was “reopened an hour or so after the memo went out” on Monday and “inspection was complete.”
MSNBC’s top primetime anchors – including Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Ari Melber, Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner, Lawrence O'Donnell, Stephanie Ruhle, and Jen Psaki – are set to broadcast their Super Tuesday coverage from their desks inside the network’s main studio following the bed bug scare.
15 states, as well as the territory of American Samoa, are set to hold their 2024 primaries on Tuesday night.
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, as well as Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden, are expected to win all 16 of the Super Tuesday primary races for their respective parties.
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As RadarOnline.com previously reported, MSNBC’s startling bed bug infestation this week came as the network continues to struggle in the ratings when compared to rival networks like Fox News.
The network was recently said to be hemorrhaging viewers and, in a Hail Mary, has reportedly turned to Rachel Maddow to bring back the viewers who have jumped ship.
“Viewers are dumping them at an alarming rate – nearly a 33% drop off," one media insider recently revealed. "They're in big trouble and pleading with Rachel to return full-time to save them."
"Their only solution, at least in the short term, is to bring her back five days a week and try to build a network around her."