Sam Seder MSNBC Termination Controversy

Overview

Sam Seder MSNBC Termination Controversy refers to the firing of MSNBC contributor Sam Seder over a tweet he made in satire of long-standing Roman Polanski sexual assault allegations in 2009. MSNBC faced criticism after the tweet was interpreted by right-wing media personality Mike Cernovich as a rape joke, claiming it was a media double standard that Seder was allowed to contribute to MSNBC with these views. MSNBC soon cut ties with Seder but rehired him after backlash from people who saw MSNBC as misreading the tweet in bad faith.

Background

In 2009, Sam Seder tweeted "Don't care re: Polanski, but i hope if my daughter is raped it is by an older truly talented man with a spectacular sense of mise-en-scene" (shown below).

On November 28th, 2017, Mike Cernovich took to Medium to write about the tweet,^[2] claiming it was "far worse than even my most satirical or sarcastic tweet. And the media won’t say anything, because Sam Seder is one of them." Seder was contacted by Errol Cockfield, senior vice president of communications at MSNBC, after Cernovich's story broke. Seder wrote to Cockfield:

I believe this tweet was posted when Polanski was seeking to return to the US. I wrote that tweet out of disgust with those who were excusing or were seeking to advocate forgiveness for Polanski’s actions which caused him to flee the US. I was appalled that anyone would diminish the seriousness of rape, particularly of a child by citing the perpetrator’s artistic contributions. Obviously, I would not wish any harm of my daughter or any other person.
I am confident that other tweets from that time will reflect my disgust in a less satirical tone.
FYI I was a professional comedy actor and writer through the 90’s and oughts, having written and directed satirical film and television in addition to pilots for NBC, HBO, Fox, Universal, CBS and AMC.
I deleted the tweet on my commute today after noticing that right wing twitterer’s who don’t follow me had retweeted a tweet of mine from ’09.
Today’s my birthday!

The following day, Cockfield informed Seder that MSNBC would end their relationship with him. The Wrap^[3] announced the news of Seder's termination shortly after.

Developments

The move was widely condemned by those who saw MSNBC as being pressured by fringe far-right conspiracy theorists who were reading the tweet in bad faith. MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes^[4] said as much in a tweet on December 4th, 2017 (shown below). To CNN,^[5] Cernovich stated that he felt "emboldened" by the success of his campaign against Seder and had begun combing through tweets of other MSNBC contributors.

On December 7th, 2017, MSNBC reversed their decision and elected to keep Seder on. In a statement to The Intercept,^[6] Seder said, “I appreciate MSNBC’s thoughtful reconsideration and willingness to understand the cynical motives of those who intentionally misrepresented my tweet for their own toxic, political purposes.”

Search Interest

External References