Former MSNBC Host Says She Needed Permission To Criticize Hillary Clinton

Krystal Ball, a former MSNBC host and now co-host of the “Breaking Points” podcast, claimed in an interview with Joe Rogan that she needed permission from MSNBC executives to speak negatively of Hillary Clinton prior to her 2016 run.

Ball, also a former Democratic candidate for Congress in Virginia, co-hosted “The Cycle” from 2012 until 2015 for the major Comcast-owned news network.

During a 2014 segment on her show, Ball pleaded with then-Sen. Clinton (D-NY) to not seek the Democratic Party nomination for president.

“I did this whole thing that was like, ‘She sold out to Wall Street. People are gonna hate this lady. She’s like the terrible candidate for the moment. Please don’t run,’” Ball said during an appearance last week on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

“I was allowed to say it,” she said. “I deliver my things. I did it exactly how I wanted to do it.”

But Ball quickly realized the network had unspoken allegiances to Clinton when MSNBC’s then-president Phil Griffin was unhappy with her for daring to speak out against the politician.

“Afterwards, I get pulled into an office and you know [I was told], ‘Great monologue, everything’s fine. But next time you do any commentary on Hillary Clinton, it has to get approved by the president of the network,’” Ball said.

“I would love to say that that didn’t affect me and that I was there to be a truth teller,” she continued, saying the event certainly changed the way she covered Clinton in the future on her show.

“Listen, I’m a human being,” she added. “I’m sure I responded to the incentives of that system, like, ‘God, I don’t want to get in trouble with the boss.’”

Ball first went viral in 2010 when leaked lewd photos of her at a party in her 20s sparked national headlines for the then-candidate.

Since leaving MSNBC, Ball launched “Breaking Points” with Saagar Enjeti, her previous co-host on The Hill’s popular “Rising” YouTube show.