Ex-MSNBC Producer Says Andrew Yang Was Blacklisted From Show

Andrew Yang speaks during the AARP and The Des Moines Register Iowa Presidential Candidate Forum in Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 2019. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Former Democratic presidential nominee Andrew Yang was blacklisted from one of MSNBC’s top shows, a former producer said recently.

Ariana Pekary said over the weekend that she looked through her notes and found she was told on April 25, 2019, not to pursue Yang, along with several others, for an interview on “The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell.”

“The list of candidates was dictated, but the reasons for allowing them or not were not explained,” she said on Twitter.

The list was unique to O'Donnell’s show and did not come from upper management, she added.

An MSNBC spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Yang grew increasingly frustrated during the Democratic primary with MSNBC and NBC, which broadcast lists of candidates multiple times that left out his name, including during an on-air interview with him. MSNBC issued a number of apologies but the incidents kept happening.

During an appearance on CNN, Yang said that during a primary debate hosted by MSNBC, he got called on less than any other candidate.

MSNBC has also “omitted me from over a dozen fundraising and polling graphics,“ Yang added. ”I’m not the kind of guy who takes offense easily but at this point you have to call it like you see it.”

Yang started a boycott of MSNBC, which he ended late last year because he decided he wanted “to speak to as many Americans as possible.”