$500 per second: Ronna McDaniel reportedly has a few expectations

27 March 2024

Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, who was ousted by NBC News chairman Cesar Conde Tuesday after massive in-house and public outrage over signing her as a paid contributor, reportedly has some expectations about what she is owed.

Anger over McDaniel’s hiring was palpable at MSNBC, where the news network’s top hosts on-air denounced the decision to sign someone who allegedly assisted in trying to overturn the 2020 election. The New York Times on Tuesday reported, “a review of her record shows she was, at times, closely involved in and supportive of Mr. Trump’s legal and political maneuvering ahead of the violent attempt to block Congress from certifying Mr. Biden’s victory on Jan. 6.”

McDaniel’s price tag generated additional outrage, as some noted NBC News had recently laid off 13 researchers yet opted to pay her $300,000 a year. (According to the NBC News Guild, executives had “illegally terminated 13 union journalists.”)

According to Politico, McDaniel expects to have her full two-year contract paid in full.

“McDaniel expects to be fully paid out for her contract, two years at $300,000 annually, since she did not breach its terms, we’re told — meaning that her single, not-quite-20-minute interview Sunday could cost the Peacock more than $30,000 per minute, or $500 per second.”

McDaniel is also lawyer-shopping.

“McDaniel spoke yesterday with Bryan Freedman, renowned lawyer to the estranged cable-news stars, to discuss legal options even beyond recouping the dollar value of her original contract,” Politico reports. “While no arrangement is final, a person close to McDaniel tells us, Freedman would be an obvious choice: He represented Megyn Kelly in her own acrimonious parting with NBC, as well as ousted anchors Chris Cuomo, Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson in disputes with their respective former networks.”

“McDaniel, we’re told, is exploring potential defamation and hostile work environment torts after MSNBC’s top talent — momentarily her colleagues — took turns Monday blasting her on air. (NBC declined to comment about the $600,000 figure or her potential claims.)”

Politico also reports that on Sunday, after Chuck Todd’s on-air remarks denouncing McDaniel’s hiring after her “Meet the Press” interview, McDaniel “heard directly” from NBC News’ senior vice president of politics, Carrie Budoff Brown, and NBC News’ president of editorial, Rebecca Blumenstein, saying “that they’d have her back and the controversy would pass, according to the McDaniel ally.”

NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde sent an email to employees Tuesday announcing the network had cut ties with McDaniel. But Politico reports, neither Conde nor any other “top NBC brass” communicated to McDaniel directly before the email went out that she was done at the network.

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