EXCLUSIVE: MSNBC Motor-Mouth Rachel Maddow 'Locked in Bitter Behind-the-Scenes War' With Network's New Head Honcho Rebecca Kutler
Rachel Maddow is said to be locked in a bitter behind-the-scenes war with MSNBC's new head honcho Rebecca Kutler.
April 9 2025, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
Open warfare has erupted at MSNBC as RadarOnline.com can reveal the floundering left-wing news network's biggest star, Rachel Maddow, is locked in a bitter power struggle with new honcho Rebecca Kutler – and it could end with Maddow's head on the chopping block.
With the country making a dramatic shift to the political right, MSNBC has become a minefield for its once popular stars.
And while Maddow boosted ratings after shifting from a Mondays-only schedule to five days a week after Donald Trump's election victory, she's still said to be pushing the envelope by skipping meetings with Kutler, going off-script on-air, and privately threatening to blow things up if she doesn't get her way.
Kutler, right, faces internal chaos as producers say Maddow won't play by the new rules.
Maddow shocked producers when she slammed MSNBC on the air for firing anchor Joy Reid in February and has apparently been questioning Maddow's authority at every turn behind the scenes.
She has refused to meet with Kutler to "work things out," said insiders, who added she has also canceled several sit-downs with her boss at the last minute.
"Rachel's making it very clear she doesn't recognize Rebecca's authority," a network insider added. "It's a slow-motion mutiny."
Despite Maddow helping MSNBC's ratings, she's still struggling.
The liberal loudmouth has lost 25 percent of her viewers since Election Day, plummeting from 2.3 million viewers at the start of 2024 to 1.8 million viewers in early March.
Joy Reid's firing became a flashpoint in Maddow's growing rebellion against the MSNBC leadership.
As RadarOnline.com readers know, Kutler was hired to reverse the fortunes of the withering network, which is consistently getting its clock cleaned by Fox News.
Maddow remains MSNBC's highest-paid personality, signing a contract speculated to be as much as $25million a year before Kutler arrived in November.
Now, Kutler is said to be wondering if Rachel is worth the money she's raking in, especially considering she is set to go back to a Mondays-only schedule after the first 100 days of Trump's term.
Donald Trump's election win reignited Maddow's work schedule – but now her future hangs by a thread.
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A handful of producers still remain loyal to Maddow, but execs and the crop of rising young talent are quietly resentful of her oversized salary, light workload and diminishing ratings.
"Rachel might have fooled her old boss with the 'one show a week and a podcast' routine," the insider said – adding: "But Rebecca's not buying it. She wants five days a week from Rachel – or for her to take a serious pay cut. If she doesn't start to play ball soon, she could be gone."
