MSNBC host Chris Matthews announced his retirement on air Monday, following a number of negative stories about Matthews in the last month.
“Let me start with my headline tonight, I’m retiring,” Matthews said at the open of his show. “This is the last Hardball on MSNBC, and obviously this isn’t for lack of interest in politics. As you can tell, I have loved every minute of my 20 years as host of ‘Hardball.'”
Matthews then addressed some controversies and allegations around him, offering an apology.
“After my conversation with MSNBC, I decided tonight will be my last ‘Hardball.’ So let me tell you why. The younger generations out there are ready to take the reigns. We see them in politics, in the media, in fighting for their causes, they are improving the workplace. We’re talking here about better standards than we grew up with—fair standards.”
“A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other. Compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were okay, were never okay. Not then and certainly not today, and for making such comments in the past, I’m sorry.”
The latest controversy for Matthews came last week as journalist Laura Bassett claimed that he made suggestive comments to her, such as, “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?” while she was preparing for an appearance on the network.
The Daily Caller originally broke news of Matthews’ alleged inappropriate behavior around women in 2017. (RELATED: Sources: Chris Matthews Runs An Abusive Work Environment)
Matthews also got into hot water for comparing Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ performance in the Nevada caucuses to the invasion of France by Nazi Germany, something he later apologized for.
This story is developing and will be updated…