Veteran MS NOW anchor Alex Witt has broken down in an emotional farewell after signing off from the network after almost 30 years.
Witt, 65, joined the network in 1999 and launched her three-hour weekend afternoon show, Alex Witt Reports, in 2011. During her career, Witt has covered everything from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic to royal weddings and Hurricane Katrina.
MS NOW president Rebecca Kutler revealed in a staff memo in June that Witt had decided to “conclude her tenure with the company… following an extraordinary career.” Kutler also calculated Witt had “anchored more hours” on air than any other host since the network launched as MSNBC in 1996.
Witt will be a guest host on various daytime shows for the rest of the year, according to Variety, while her weekend timeslot will be filled from next Saturday by The Assignment with Antonia Hylton. Former NBC reporter Hylton called Witt a “legend and the Mayor of MS NOW.”
During her final show on Sunday, a string of guests and panelists shared their personal tributes to Witt, who at one point said, “Let’s move on before I start crying, I do have waterproof mascara on today.”
At the end of the show, producers aired a package of highlights from Witt’s storied career that ran for over 10 minutes, introduced by the host who said, “Let’s go now to our last moments together, because there’s a great line from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’”
She added, “So with that in mind, I want to take a moment with all of you to look around at the stories, the people, and a job that has allowed me to report, in many cases, the rough draft of history for 27 years.”
After the package aired, Witt thanked staff for trawling through the “deep archives” of her on-screen career and began to choke up as she thanked her “longtime” executive producer, Nick Kovijanic.
Fighting back tears as producers kept a photo of Witt and Kovijanic on screen as she spoke, the host said, “Oooh, I knew it would be hard to get to this. You’re a champion, Nick. You fought for me, this show, our team… You’ve been my rudder through all of this. I promise to keep staring in that direction.”
As the camera cut back to Witt, she told viewers “You guys have heard me talk about Nick so much,” she said before welcoming the crew she called “her village” onto the MS NOW set to join her on camera.
As the show ended, an emotional Witt said, “It has been such a privilege to earn your trust delivering the news. I’m grateful for your loyalty, keeping me right here in this anchor chair all these years doing this job that I love. Thank you.”
She also thanked her son Charlie and daughter Caroline for “embracing and understanding the many ways my weekend hours impacted you. I’m forever proud of you two, and love you till the end of time.”
She signed off by saying “That’s going to do it for me on this edition of Alex Witt Reports. Enjoy your holidays,” with crew members clapping her.
Witt’s colleagues also paid tribute to her on social media, with Ken Dilanian saying she had been a “calm, balanced, inquisitive presence on the air,” while Kelly O’Donnell said she was a “calm, intelligent voice for viewers during every kind of breaking news.”
