I'm sure Bashir had some kind of "Play or Pay" contract that allows him to get paid even after they take him off the air for a while.
Those provisions are pretty standard for contracted performers. But they don't always work. It didn't for Lee Rodgers when he was pulled off the air in San Fran. The case wasn't resolved before he died this past summer and I'm hoping his family will keep the suit going. He was owed over four months salary for the unexpired portion of his contract.
Meanwhile, Bashir would have been OPENLY fired if MSNBC wasn't run by ball-free eunuchs. But is wasn't and won't be in the foreseeable future.
Oh please.
For those of us who actually understand these things, what's actually standard is that if talent leaves the air of his own volition (as in Henry's fantasy), the two parties contractually agree that he won't go work for one of their competitors for (commonly) six months or whatever term is agreed to - the idea is squashing the opportunity to cash in on whatever market value his former employer's air slot gave him. If Bashir pops up somewhere else in a similar position sooner than that, you'll know that wasn't done. OTOH if he doesn't, it won't tell us anything.
I doubt anyone wants to hire him anyway -- which is all the more indication that he was fired; you don't voluntarily quit your job at the nadir of your value. That would be stupid.
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