Ari Melber

Ari Melber
Melber in 2018
Born
Ari Naftali Melber

(1980-03-31) March 31, 1980 (age 44)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Michigan (AB)
Cornell University (JD)
OccupationJournalist
EmployerNBCUniversal
Television
Spouse
Drew Grant
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2017)​

Ari Naftali Melber[1] (born March 31, 1980) is an American attorney and Emmy-winning journalist who is the Chief Legal Correspondent for MSNBC and host of The Beat with Ari Melber.

"The Beat with Ari Melber" is "often the most-watched show on MSNBC," the A.P. reported in 2023, noting "the Emmy-winning NBC News legal analyst... brings a methodical, 'follow the facts' style to the issues he addresses."[2]

"The Beat" had the highest ratings of any show on MSNBC or CNN, "outranking everything else on MSNBC — the first time in the network’s 27 years that a show outside the prime-time window took top honors," the New York Times reported in 2023.[3]

Forbes reported The Beat was the highest rated show across all of MSNBC and CNN in January 2024,[4] and the show is widely viewed online, including its YouTube playlist (msnbc.com/ari). [5]

The Beat was "the highest-rated non-Fox News show in the demo" on cable news, AdWeek reported in November 2023.[6] Forbes [7] notes it has "MSNBC's best rating ever for the time slot."[8][9][10]

"The Beat" is one of "the most-watched news programs on cable," Variety noted in 2023, along with Fox's "The Five."[11] AdWeek reported The Beat's ratings made it one of "most watched cable news" shows in 2022.[12][13]

"The Beat's" ratings were up 46%" in 2021,[14] performing better against Fox News "than any other show before it."[15][16] In January 2021, The Beat hit No. 1 among cable news shows at 6 p.m., averaging 2.6 million viewers per night.[17][18]

The Beat was nominated for a 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Interview.[19]

Mediaite named Melber in its 2024 list of the "most influential people in media," noting his show "dominated rival CNN during the 6 p.m. ET hour, notching nearly 2 million viewers and even beat the rest of MSNBC on occasion," his "understated and less partisan demeanor, and "willingness to welcome opposing viewpoints.. for fascinating if heated interviews."[20]

Early life and education

Melber is Jewish, the son of an Israeli immigrant. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors.[21]

Melber attended Garfield High School, in Seattle, Washington. He then attended the University of Michigan, where he graduated with an A.B. degree in political science in 2002.[22] After college, he moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for Senator Maria Cantwell. He then joined Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign, working the Iowa caucus and as California deputy political director.[23][22][24] When Kerry lost, Melber attended Cornell Law School, where he was an editor of the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy and graduated with a J.D. in 2009.[25] He interned at New York County Defender Services, a public defender's office.

Melber worked for First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams at Cahill Gordon & Reindel[22] from 2009 to 2013.[25] He also began writing for news outlets like The Nation, The Atlantic, Reuters, and Politico.[22] MSNBC asked him to serve as a guest host.[22] In April 2015, Melber was named their chief legal correspondent.

Media career

The Cycle: Ari Melber, Krystal Ball, Touré, and Abby Huntsman (2013)

2013–2015

In April 2013, Melber was named a co-host of "The Cycle" with S.E. Cupp, Krystal Ball, Touré, and Steve Kornacki.[26] "The Cycle" was canceled in July 2015, and Melber continued working for the network as Chief Legal Correspondent. Melber was a substitute host for The Rachel Maddow Show and other programs.[22]

2015–2018

Melber is a legal analyst for NBC News as well as MSNBC's chief legal correspondent,[27] covering the Department of Justice, FBI and the Supreme Court.[28]

He has won an Emmy Award for his Supreme Court coverage.[29] In 2017, Melber hosted The Point on Sundays on MSNBC.

The Beat premiered on July 24, 2017, and became the "longest-running" show at "MSNBC's 6 p.m. hour in network history" in 2021.

Melber reported that the firing of FBI Director James Comey could trigger an investigation into obstruction of justice on May 9, 2017 — the day Comey was fired.[30] A probe was announced on May 18, 2017, which included an obstruction investigation.

Melber reported President Trump's actions toward Ukraine provided a potential case of impeachment for "bribery" in October.[31] The next month, top Democrats began making the bribery case, showing "Democrats agreed with the MSNBC host" (Mediaite),[32] while a Republican congressman cited a bribery segment from The Beat at an impeachment hearing.[33]

A few months into the Mueller probe,[34] Melber broke the story that a state investigator was exploring jurisdiction to charge potential defendants in the Mueller probe with state crimes, meaning a conviction would not be eligible for a federal pardon. Politico followed up on Melber's scoop the next day,[35] and New York State prosecutors ultimately filed separate charges against Paul Manafort in 2019.

2019

Melber interviewed former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in February 2019 about whether Trump asked him to interfere in the Mueller probe,[36] and Melber later reported that Lewandowski's response was false.[37] In a 2019 congressional hearing, investigators aired the Beat clip and questioned Lewandowski about that false answer.[38]

Melber broke the story[39] of police repeatedly tasing a Virginia man until he died in police custody, an investigative report[40] that led to an FBI investigation of the officers' conduct.[41]

On the night of the 2018 midterms, Melber broke a story[42] that Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee[43] "intend to request President Trump's tax returns."[44] In April 2019, United States House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal carried out that plan.[45]

The Beat with Ari Melber has featured newsworthy interviews, such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who talked to Melber after receiving the first pardon of Trump's administration;[46] Eric Holder, Kamala Harris, Trump attorneys Jay Sekulow, Drew Findling and Joe Tacopina; WH aide Stephen Miller, Dave Chappelle, Robert De Niro, Meek Mill, Erykah Badu, Ken Starr, and a range of witnesses in the Mueller probe, including Steve Bannon, whose Beat interview was his first-ever appearance on MSNBC.

Melber has drawn attention for his interviewing skills, nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Live Interview,"[19] for interviewing four key witnesses in the Mueller probe at once.[47]

Columbia Journalism Review stated Melber is "a remarkably effective interviewer", adding "his veins appear to contain ice water; he betrays no emotion at all" during intense exchanges. The A.P. reports "Melber is respected enough as a lawyer that some figures in Trump world, like Peter Navarro and lawyer Joe Tacopina, have appeared on “The Beat” to tell their stories."[48]

The New York Times columnist Peter Wehner, a former Republican official, said "Melber is an outstanding interviewer, among the best on television."[49] Director Lee Daniels got emotional in a 2019 interview about his life and career with Melber, saying it was the only time he would ever "cry on television".[50]

2020

In June 2020, conservative commentator Tiana Lowe wrote "Ari Melber on MSNBC" runs a "good straight news hour."[51] Mediaite[52] wrote The Beat is a "thought-provoking" and "idiosyncratic show" that "avoids the singular focus on Trump's misdeeds that consumes some other hosts",[53] adding Melber's interviewing style uses "the facts of the story and logical reasoning, [not] partisan cheap shots" for "fascinating" exchanges.[54]

January 6 reporting

Melber conducted several newsworthy interviews[55] with former Trump aide Peter Navarro, and one of the interviews was cited as evidence by Congress to hold Navarro in contempt, which led to his DOJ indictment and subsequent conviction.[56][57]

Melber wrote a foreword to the HarperCollins edition of the January 6 Report,[58][59] which became a #1 New York Times bestseller.[60]

"The Beat" Streaming

"Melber’s reach goes well beyond the dwindling number of people who watch cable television," wrote the Los Angeles Times in a 2023 profile, reporting The Beat's YouTube ratings were higher "than any other personality‘s at the network."[61] "The Beat" hit 1.5 billion total online views in 2024.

Semafor reported on the "enormous numbers," noting "on YouTube, The Beat just crossed 1.5 billion views, and averages more than 500,000 views a clip — good engagement by any measure of YouTube success."[62]

In 2024, The Ankler's Lachlan Cartwright reported "MSNBC has become the most-watched news network" on YouTube, "thanks to Ari Melber posting there regularly" along with videos by Rachel Maddow.[63]

The Beat has been credited as the "most streamed MSNBC show on YouTube";[64] with some of the most watched MSNBC segments online.[65][66]

AdWeek asked Melber about the show's large YouTube audience, and he discussed the show's 1.6 billion views, and why interviews with Bill Gates, 50 Cent and Robert De Niro did well. ("The Internet likes quality, length and 'big' people or topics.")[67][68] Melber's show is one of the most viewed shows online (Daily Beast), [69][70] and drawing over a billion streams is a "notable feat for a cable news program" (Reliable Sources).[71]

Music and Culture

Melber regularly uses hip hop lyrics to explain political or legal scenarios.[72][73][74] A Vanity Fair article about MSNBC dubbed him the "secret fourth Beastie Boy", writing he is "shockingly smart and well read."[75]

Apple Music launched a music show hosted by Melber, Nevuary Radio,[76] in 2019.[77]

In 2022, Melber did a special report on the song "God Did" by Jay-Z and DJ Khaled,[78] with "acutely detailed dissection" of his verse, and Jay Z then released audio of Melber's report as a new Jay-Z track, "Hov Did," on streaming music platforms.[79] Meek Mill references The Beat in his music video "Mandela Freestyle,"[80] as does rapper Benny The Butcher in another song; Harlem rapper Dave East cites the show in the chorus of his song "Eyes Can See."[81]

Melber was a correspondent for The Nation; and he has been published in The Atlantic, Reuters and Politico and several books; he wrote a report about Organizing for America.[25]

Personal life

Melber attended Garfield High School in Seattle, WA.[82] Melber lives in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. He has been divorced from Drew Grant, the Managing Editor of Passionfruit,[83][84][85] since 2017.[86] He is a member of the New York Bar.[87]

References

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