Joy Reid named weekday evening host at MSNBC

MSNBC weekend host Joy Reid is joining the channel’s weekday lineup, making her the first Black woman to anchor an evening cable news program.

Reid, 51, will take over the slot vacated by Chris Matthews, who left the network abruptly in March after reports surfaced about inappropriate comments he made to female guests booked on his program.

The promotion of Reid — who has hosted “AM Joy” on Saturday and Sunday mornings since May 2016 — has been in the works since Matthews departed.

But the announcement advances the mandate of NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde to increase diversity among the ranks of his division in front of and behind the camera.

Reid’s show, “The ReidOut,” will begin July 20.

A former Miami talk radio host who joined MSNBC in 2014, Reid survived a controversy of her own two years ago when a series of homophobic blog posts she wrote years ago showed up on social media.

“Most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing,” said one post captured on an archival website.

Reid maintained that the posts were planted by hackers and even hired a cyber-security expert to investigate the matter. But she eventually devoted an hour of her program apologizing for other comments she made regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, saying that her views on LGBTQ rights had evolved over time.

Reid previously had a daytime MSNBC program, “The Reid Report,” in 2014, but it was canceled a year later due to low ratings.

She remained with the network as a national correspondent and got a second chance when she replaced weekend host Melissa Harris-Perry, who parted ways with MSNBC after a public dispute over her program being pre-empted by presidential primary coverage in 2016.

Reid, a Harvard graduate and native of Brooklyn, N.Y., has built a strong following on MSNBC as a weekend host especially as the network became more focused on progressive viewpoints critical of the Trump administration.

Currently, the only other Black woman with a daily cable news platform is Fox News Channel’s Harris Faulkner, who hosts “Outnumbered Overtime,” which airs middays.