UPDATE Monday night: Maddow confirmed she’s going on hiatus in order to work on Ben Stiller’s adaptation of her podcast “Bag Man.”
“Ben Stiller is going to direct it, he is incredible. One of the producers of the film is Lorne Michaels, yes that Lorne Michael. This has been in the works for a while now, but it looks like it is gonna to happen. I am super excited about it, and I am going to take a little bit of time off from this show to go help with the movie,” she said Monday night.
She also recorded Monday’s episode of her MSNBC show from home, due to recent exposure to someone with COVID-19, she said.
Original story: Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s star primetime host, told her staff Monday that she will be taking a hiatus for the next few weeks, according to a report by Business Insider. She is expected to return in “a few weeks.”
A representative for MSNBC did not immediately return a request for comment, but the Insider story says she is stepping aside from “The Rachel Maddow Show” to focus on other elements of her newest contract with the network. She is slated to do bigger projects, including podcasts, for the company.
Notably, the report mentioned she is taking time to work on a Focus Features film based on her book and podcast, “Big Man.” The movie will be directed by Ben Stiller and she will serve as an executive producer.
This comes after Maddow and her employer went through a tumultuous news cycle around her contract late last year. In August, it was reported that she no longer wanted to do the nightly show, which is the highest-rated program on MSNBC. Eventually, per reports, she agreed to stay on to the tune of $30 million per year through 2024, the year of the next big election.
It was known at the time that she would step away from some of her nightly hosting duties to focus on other projects.
Per Insider, MSNBC is expected to fill her 9 p.m. slot with a rotating cast of guest hosts.