The Mirror

MSNBC’s Mika and Joe contemplated exit strategy

Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinksi let a juicy detail slip in a column this week on HuffPost that discussed taking a break from her iPhone on a family vacation. It was this: Sometime in the last few years, she and Joe Scarborough seriously considered leaving MSNBC.

She described the negotiations as “intense” and said they all played out on her phone (which she was desperately trying to ignore at St. Germain-des-Prés, the oldest cathedral in Paris). Thankfully, Joe handled it all so masterfully.

She wrote: “At some point in the past few years, Joe and I just might have left MSNBC, and our agent, Ari Emanuel, was handling the complicated back-and-forth. The negotiations were tough and dramatic. (I am so happy that we still are at MSNBC, but that’s a different blog.)”

As Ari called with an update and her phone started buzzing, interrupting a sacred moment between her and one of her daughters, Mika’s husband said in disgust, “Answer it.”

So she did. “And what was so important?” she wrote. “Ari had nothing new. He was just calling to tell me he was on it, and that Joe was handling it all so masterfully. What?”

Mika eventually put down her phone and connected with loved ones.