Tiffany Cross Hires Gabrielle Union’s Power Lawyer Amid MSNBC Firing

Gabrielle Union Wade

According to sources, the former “Cross Connection” host suspects that network head Rashida Jones has a personal vendetta against her, and worries there was something improper going on behind the scenes. As a result, Tiffany Cross has retained power attorney Bryan Freedman, who also repped Megyn Kelly in her dispute with NBC.

A source said:

“The lawyers have been in touch. She wants to know why she got fired.”

They continued,

“What’s the business case for letting her go? Brian Williams lied and they brought him back. Joe [Scarborough] and Mika [Brzezinski] had a [romance], and they expanded their hours and paid them more money. Many people in the business feel like [Cross] was made an example out of.”

Tiffany Cross

As previously reported, MSNBC weekend host Tiffany Cross was suddenly let go by the network on Friday, Nov.4.  The network decided not to renew her show after two years and cut ties with Cross immediately.

A rotation of guest hosts will fill Cross’s weekend time slots until a permanent replacement is found, reports claim. In addition, the production team will remain at the network. A source confirmed that there were concerns at the network that Cross’s commentary, on the show and elsewhere, did not meet the network’s editorial standards.

Tiffany Cross

Tiffany Cross’ dismissal reportedly stemmed, in part, from her propensity for calling people names and making “vulgar” remarks on TV — and also because she allegedly racked up as much as $100,000 in costs for five-star hotel stays.

According to insiders, the host traveled to Los Angeles and the Super Bowl during her two years at MSNBC while presenting them as official business trips. Cross also reportedly irritated coworkers by asking for more air time even though her show aired once a week. Despite her public assurance that her numbers were strong, her show reportedly averaged between 704,000 and 465,000 viewers each week since June.

Cross said in a statement following her resignation that her program had “more than 4.6 million monthly viewers” and was the “highest-rated weekend show” on MSNBC.

The anchor was intended to draw black viewers to MSNBC. A source close to the network said that the company’s executives became frustrated with Cross‘ tendency to criticize news hosts at other cable networks. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly of Sirius XM, whom Cross referred to as a “black face expert,” and Bill Maher, whom she referred to as an “angry, white old man,” were among the people she’s had disputes with.

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[VIA]