The three top executives of NBC and MSNBC’s parent companies urged employees on Friday to embrace different perspectives after MSNBC fired contributor Matthew Dowd following his comments that labeled conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was killed this week, one of the most “divisive younger figures” who pushed “hate speech.”
The memo by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, NBCUniversal CEO Mike Cavanagh and Mark Lazarus, the CEO of the newly spun-off Versant Media, referenced Dowd’s comments and made clear to their employees that such remarks will not be tolerated.
Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative youth leader, was shot to death while speaking to college students at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. On Friday, law enforcement officials announced that 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was arrested in connection with the assassination.
“You may have seen that MSNBC recently ended its association with a contributor who made an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event,” the execs wrote in their memo. “That coverage was at odds with fostering civil dialogue and being willing to listen to the points of view of those who have differing opinions. We should be able to disagree, robustly and passionately, but, ultimately, with respect. We need to do better.”
During an MSNBC appearance on Wednesday, before officials confirmed Kirk’s death, Dowd appeared to blame Kirk’s rhetoric for the shooting.
“You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and not expect awful actions to take place,” he said.
He called Kirk “one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures” and acknowledged that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
MSNBC, in turn, said the remarks were “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable,” and it ended his contributor contract later that day.
Dowd issued his own apology on Bluesky, saying he “in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind.”
