Rachel Maddow’s bumper pay is fueling jealousy at MSNBC, say insiders as Lawrence O’Donnell remains off air

MSNBC has been caught in the throws of controversy as rumors swirl about jealousy at the network over star Rachel Maddow’s bumper pay while Lawrence O’Donnell took a bizarre absence from his program.

Rachel Maddow has been a fixture at MSNBC since her program debuted in 2008. She is reportedly one of the highest-paid news anchors in the country, taking home an estimated $25 million a year.

Her whopping salary has seemed to set an unattainable expectation for the other anchors at the network, with new reports now suggesting that O’Donnell is in pay negotiations.

‘Lawrence has been trying to renegotiate his contract, and what he wants is what internally everyone’s calling ‘The Rachel Maddow Deal,” an anonymous insider told The US Sun.

‘That’s working about one day a week and recording a podcast, which will never happen again.’

The insider went on to say that Maddow’s salary was determined before it was announced that MSNBC would be spun off by its parent network, NBC.

They referred to the contract as ‘crazy’ and ‘silly,’ noting that everyone at the network wants her ‘golden parachute.’

Maddow’s show had the highest ratings at MSNBC in February, according to AdWeek, and she previously pledged to increase her on-air appearances from once a week to every weekday during Donald Trump‘s first 100 days in office.

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Rachel Maddow is a fixture on MSNBC and reportedly makes a massive salary that an insider claimed was making others on the network jealous

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Lawrence O’Donnell announced on March 13 that he would be taking a week off due to exhaustion but was absent from his show for two weeks

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Maddow and O’Donnell host separate shows on MSNBS with Maddow fronting The Rachel Maddow Show and O’Donnell hosting The Last Word

The insider claimed that O’Donnell was concerned that once Maddow returns to a once-a-week slot, his ratings will struggle since her program airs before him.

‘Lawrence’s thinking is that it’s not fair that his numbers will take a hit when Rachel leaves again. He believes execs will blame him, and that that will ultimately be bad for his upcoming contract.’

O’Donnell never made a 100-day pledge like his colleague and admitted on air in mid-March that he was ‘exhausted’ and needed a break.

He told Maddow during the show, ‘This is day 52. I thought it was day 92. It turns out it’s day 52, Rachel… and so I’m going to take next week off.’

O’Donnell continued that he didn’t want to ‘drift away’ without explanation and promised that after a week off he’d be back for the full 100 days.

Maddow pouted and said she was ‘very sad’ to continue without him, but added that she understood why he needed a break.

‘You have to take care of yourself. You got to pace yourself. You got to be in this for the long haul, so I can’t hold it against you,’ she said.

A clip of O’Donnell announcing his break went viral on social media, and the veteran news anchor didn’t generate much sympathy for his exhaustion.

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Maddow typically hosted her show on Monday nights but increased her appearances for the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s presidency

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Insiders claimed that O’Donnell was in talks with MSNBC about his contract as he has taken some time off from his show

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O’Donnell told Maddow on his show that he would be taking a break for a week before announcing that he ended up having to take two weeks off due to an illness

‘This guy is the face of privilege,’ one critic said. ‘He can take a week off because politics make him sad face.’

Others didn’t buy his excuse, writing, ‘He’s gone. Gonna have an announcement later, something like, ‘I’m happier being out of it,’ or, ‘have to work on myself/health,’ or ‘spend more time with family”’.

The absence’s timing coincided with rumors of contract negotiations, with the insider also claiming that MSNBC executives are planning on keeping O’Donnell as a full-time anchor and aren’t considering a once-a-week slot for him.

‘By the time they spin off, they want to be a self-contained, profitable company and if Lawrence doesn’t want to be part of that, or just wants to do one show a week – it’s going to be a problem for him,’ they added.

A representative of MSNBC disputed this reporting to DailyMail.com.

O’Donnell announced his week off from his program, The Last Word on March 13, however, he has yet to return to his hosting duties.

He then clarified in a post on X on Thursday that he was off due to an illness, writing, ‘Thanks to @msnbc team @Capehartj @AliVelshi @jrpsaki for filling in for me. My week off turned into 2 weeks after I picked up an infection. Expect to be back next week.’