Facing accusations of sexism and harassment, "Hardball" host Chris Matthews surprised viewers by announcing his retirement live on air.
The 74-year-old anchor dropped the bombshell during last night's live broadcast of the MSNBC program, saying, "I’m retiring. This is the last ‘Hardball’ on MSNBC."
The show then cut to a commercial, and when it returned, Matthews had been replaced by political reporter Steve Kornacki.
The announcement followed recent accusations against the long-time anchor.
On Friday, journalist Laura Bassett wrote a GQ article in which she claimed Matthews has a "pattern of making comments about women’s appearances in demeaning ways."
The article resulted in the resurfacing of a 2017 story in which Matthews was reported to have been reprimanded by MSNBC for making inappropriate comments and jokes to a female employee.