Rick Sanchez Sidekick Brooke Baldwin Fills In for Her Fired Colleague

Former “Rick’s List” contributor will be taking Sanchez’s place in the aftermath of his controversial, radio outburst

Brooke Baldwin finally gets her chance to sit down for a change.

Baldwin, the auburn-haired sidekick to Rick Sanchez before the CNN host was fired, took the reins on Monday afternoon for the 3 p.m.-5 p.m. slot. Though the face changed, the show's name remained "Rick's List" — for now.

Sanchez went down in flames on Friday with his emotional radio rant against Jon Stewart, CNN and Jews in the media, and was promptly fired.

Baldwin, who had spent most of the show walking the floor in front of Sanchez's desk in her contributor role, filled in admirably Monday, spending much of her two-hour block covering an attack on boaters on a lake that borders Mexico and deliberations on a horrible home invasion case in Connecticut.

Baldwin joined CNN and Headline News in 2008 after working as an anchor on the 10 p.m. newscast for WTTG in Washington, D.C. She began contributing to "Rick's List" earlier this year. "Rick's List" started in Jan. 2010 as a two-hour extension of Sanchez's regular hourlong "CNN Newsroom" gig. 

On Saturday, Baldwin posted a note on her Twitter page that said Sanchez's firing was "tough" on her, but that "the show must go on." She later revealed in another Tweet that CNN asked her to take over the "Rick's List" time slot on an interim basis.

"They have asked me to do the 3-5p shift. for now…." Baldwin wrote, sounding none too confident about her chances for staying on long-term. 

Sunday night, Baldwin waxed philosophical as her inaugural appearance in the "Rick's List" time slot approached. 

"Love playwright Tom Stoppard. U know what he once said? "Every exit is an entry somewhere else." Hope to see u at 3p ET tomorrow," she wrote. 

Sanchez, who helped make a name for himself by building a massive presence on Twitter, has been silenced on the internet. CNN took down his official company blog. The "RickSanchezCNN" Twitter page is still up, but Sanchez hasn't posted a message since the scandal surfaced Friday morning. 

CNN is likely to make Sanchez relinquish the "RickSanchezCNN" Twitter handle. Giving up on his company Twitter page is going to put Sanchez in a rough position. The Twitter handle "RickSanchez" belongs to a man who identifies himself as a Southern California human resources professional and says in his bio on the site, "I AM NOT the Toolbag Rick Sanchez from CNN!"

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