Joe Scarborough spoke out on Thursday about the huge pay disparity between him and Mika Brzezinski that almost caused Brzezinski to leave "Morning Joe" in 2008.
Brzezinski recounts the story of her struggle to get her salary increased in her latest book, "Knowing Your Value." She spoke to HuffPost about the saga earlier in May, but recounted the story again for a special edition of "Morning Joe" on Thursday. Scarborough also talked about his growing sense of unease that he was making so much more money than Brzezinski was.
"We woke up one day, and at that point I was making fourteen times the amount that Mika was making, and at that point you go back and say, 'this just doesn't work, we've got to renegotiate,'" Scarborough said. "And the attitude is, 'you all both signed your contracts. Tough luck.'"
Ultimately, Brzezinski was able to get her salary increased. But she said it took an action of Scarborough's that she told HuffPost "sickened" her--when he diverted one of his ratings bonuses to her bank account without her knowledge--to spur her to finally take the right approach in her negotiations. (Even so, Scarborough still makes more than she does.)