Midterm Elections: Piers Morgan & Rashida Jones On How ‘Uncensored’s Going Into Uncharted Territory Tonight, The Trump Wild Card

EXCLUSIVE: “If the Republicans lose both the House and the Senate, I think it will be, in my estimation, entirely down to that decision to attack Iran and the economic fallout from that decision,” says Piers Morgan of the ongoing war, the ramifications for today’s midterms and Donald Trump. “It’s very hard to see how America extricates itself neatly from this mess now, and the consequence of the Iran War,” the Uncensored host adds. A year and a half after the ex-MSNBC boss Rashida Jones linked arms with the former UK tabloid editor and Celebrity Apprentice winner, Piers Morgan Uncovered is getting the big guests, the big numbers and aiming for the big picture – and this is just the beginning the duo say. Just before going live today on YouTube with a four-hour Election Night show from Washington DC, traditional media vets Morgan and Jones spoke with me about the midterms and that “Trump unpredictability factor.” Looking toward the POTUS bids of 2028 and the value of getting really good guests, Morgan and Uncensored CEO Jones also spotlighted that geopolitical earthquake interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from last month. To them, the importance that sit-down had for the global media landscape is emblematic of the big swings they are taking with their company and franchises. Watch on Deadline DEADLINE: Right now, Uncensored, and the company is growing massively. But why the heavy investment into this midterm election? RASHIDA JONES: For us, this is not only an important tentpole moment in politics, which has been the bread and butter of a lot of our coverage, but it’s also a precursor to the general. I think as we see this becoming the content creators’ election, it’s a precursor to where we’re going to be in two years. And so, for us, we wanted to double down. We wanted to invest. It was important to be not only in country but in Washington, where the story is centered. And so, we said, if we’re going to own the night, let’s own it all the way. DEADLINE: Piers, in terms of that ownership, you’re in DC this week, you’ve got a four-hour live show tonight. From your ringmaster position, what’s the big issue here? PIERS MORGAN: I mean look you always have to factor in the Trump unpredictability factor when it comes to trying to work out how people are going to vote. That’s been proven since he first came into the political arena in 2015. So, I think that you have to be mindful of that. Having said that, the number of pollsters I’ve seen who’ve been suggesting that if anything, they are downplaying their expectation of how big the Democrat win may be, I think, is very telling. DEADLINE: How so? MORGAN: I think, if anything, they’re probably all terrified they’re going to get found out again. If anything, they’d be ultra cautious. And they all seem to be indicating there’s going to be a big Democratic wave. So, I would be astonished if we don’t see a big Democrat wave. I think I think the House is gone for the Republicans. st a question of how big. I suspect it might be bigger than some people think, DEADLINE: One of the factors we saw in 2024, as more platforms stepped into the election coverage zone was an attempt to break from tradition .. MORGAN: Really? DEADLINE: Yes. I’ve always thought American election coverage is just like American sports coverage, where the bombard you with a zillion statistics to fill the results void. Nowadays, with access to the data available so readily, I don’t want the hype of the statistics. I want to know if you can tell me whether or not someone hit the basket. MORGAN: Yes, I agree. I did a few election coverage nights for the for CNN, and they’re sort of exciting. They’re fun for the journalists, but you do bombard viewers with a lot of information, which is kind of irrelevant. What Uncensored plans to do tonight is tell you what which of the baskets are important, which is significant, what the big picture is throughout the evening, and what the mood music is like at the key places. You know, 90% of the results that come in are kind of irrelevant. I personally, even I find that boring, and I’m quite a politics nerd. What we’re going to offer is much more of a big picture, opinion-led coverage live. DEADLINE: How? MORGAN: What does it all mean? What are the consequences? Which are the big moments? And with us, we’re going to cut through all the statistical tedium hopefully. This is the aspiration of the night. We’re going to cut to the relevant stuff and debate that properly. I think, as a viewer, if I was watching that, I’d find that more interesting. JONES: The reality is all of the information most of the networks are pulling from is the same AP feed. So, there’s nothing differentiating about that. We’ll have that same information, but what we’re adding to the mix is analysis, perspective, context, and point of view. MORGAN: We haven’t done a four-hour live special like this before. It’s going to be a very exciting night for Uncensored. It comes off the back of some big wins we’ve had in the political arena. For Zelensky to come to London and only do one on-camera interview and to choose to do my show and to come into my studio, which he did when everybody wanted him. He ended up seeing the King, the Prime Minister, and me on that trip. If you’re CNN or BBC or Sky or all the other mainstream media outlets who would have expected him to do them, you’ve got to be thinking, “Wow, okay, what does this mean?” I think what it means is that Zelensky and his team calculated that they get a lot more bang for their buck if they do my show. DEADLINE: In terms of that bang and those bucks, let’s forward lean, Rashida. JONES: Okay… DEADLINE: You joined with Pierce earlier this year. You guys are franchising like crazy. You got Royals, History Uncensored, Football Uncensored, sort of boggles my mind why you don’t have Hollywood Uncensored and Crime Uncensored …JONES: Oh, watch this space.DEADLINE: Ah, as they say, stay tuned. But let’s talk about the evolution of what you guys are doing because clearly tonight is a steppingstone for the general in 2028. You’re stress testing what you can do, right? So, after this flex, where are you guys are going next?JONES: For us, we’re looking at not only where does this get us in 2028, but also where people already gravitating towards. More people are watching this type of content on YouTube than any other platform. People are watching multiple genres across these types of platforms. You mentioned true crime, you mentioned Hollywood. These are all areas that we’re interested in, and so we’re not just looking at how do we deliver more content, but the other piece of this is how do we deliver more content in different ways. DEADLINE: What’s the plan? JONES: You know, we built a subscription strategy and a membership community where our audience is not only getting ad-free content, but original content, exclusive content. So now we’re talking to people in another place where they already are. We’re looking at how do we bring our content onto new platforms, whether it’s AVOD, SVOD, fast channels, but also licensing to existing platforms, including linear networks and linear channels where people already are DEADLINE: So, more stay tuned? JONES: (LAUGHS) Yes. MORGAN: The game plan really has been to build as big an audience as possible, and then to start building out your commercial family, if you like, people are going to be really invested and want to have a proper stake in what you have. Want to get an early side of really exclusive content and read newsletters and so on. The singular model a lot of people do, but we think we’ve built up a very very big global audience You know, tonight, for example, we’ll be live streaming it on X as well. You know, we don’t really mind how many platforms we’re on, the more the merrier. DEADLINE: Seriously, Rashida, are you guys in discussions right now with cable, satellite and linear TV? JONES: Well,Uncensored the franchise is multiple things, and so absolutely, you may see more of Pierce, more Royals, History, Football, and anything else we bring to the table, not just on YouTube, it’s hitting your inbox. It’s you know we’re having some active discussions around where should our content appear. We’ve already got one licensing deal with Skydance’s Channel Five in the UK. We’ve got active conversations in other territories, and so that’s now a big part of where we’re focused. I think this is a big differentiator for us from a business standpoint. It’s not just a matter of how do we chunk out more stuff, but how do we reach multiple people on multiple platforms in multiple areas across the world? And that’s another thing that’s unique for us is we’ve got a really broad global audience, and so we’re being very prescriptive in how we meet and how we reach those audiences in multiple different countries. DEADLINE: Piers, you spoke earlier about the Trump wild card of tonight, but what is the other issue that you are centering on for tonight’s midterms? MORGAN: I would say the economy, the economy, the economy.DEADLINE: That’s very James Carville of you.MORGAN: Well, it is. I think it is always the economy, stupid. If the economy does well, the incumbents tend to do well. If the economy is doing badly. Incumbents tend to get punished. I would also say is it’s interwoven to me with the Iran war, which has been the whole catalyst for the U.S. economy. Now, by comparison to most countries in the world, the U.S. economy is doing very very nicely, thank you. But it would be doing an awful lot better, and you wouldn’t have the gas prices as they are if America and Israel hadn’t attacked Iran back in February. I think most people look at it and think the thing’s become a complete mess. I suspect Donald Trump, if he was being honest with himself, wishes he never got into it. It’s very hard to see how America extricates itself neatly from this mess now, and the consequence of the Iran War. If the Republicans lose both the House and the Senate, I think it will be, in my estimation, entirely down to that decision to attack Iran and the economic fallout from that decision. DEADLINE: In your estimation, coming as you have from print, the Apprentice, CNN and everything else, why has Uncensored worked so well? MORGAN: I’m very glad that you recognize what we’re doing because I think that it’s been building a real head of steam. I don’t think there are many shows in the world right now in our space where you could say we’re genuinely impartial. We genuinely have everybody on. We genuinely have not only very lively debates constantly, but we also have very thoughtful one-on-one interviews. In the last six weeks alone, I’ve had a big one-on-one with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Phil Collins, the rock star, all very different in their own way. All did huge numbers on our channel. All did even bigger numbers on all our other social media platforms. And I think it’s indicative that people are now. You know, when I was at CNN doing that show, I got all the big names because it was CNN. We’re now getting them all on Piers Morgan Uncensored because we now have the audience and we treat the content properly in a way that they want to be part of it. DEADLINE: Is there a secret sauce you can share with the rest of the media world? MORGAN: I think that ultimately, we want to show how a YouTube show like ours can do this in a more interesting and energizing way than just rattling off statistic after statistic. We’re the place to come if you actually want to challenge your own views, and hear all views and conclude which one you think you’re most persuaded by. That’s what I hope tonight we do. JONES: What he said. DEADLINE: Right now, Uncensored, and the company is growing massively. But why the heavy investment into this midterm election? RASHIDA JONES: For us, this is not only an important tentpole moment in politics, which has been the bread and butter of a lot of our coverage, but it’s also a precursor to the general. I think as we see this becoming the content creators’ election, it’s a precursor to where we’re going to be in two years. And so, for us, we wanted to double down. We wanted to invest. It was important to be not only in country but in Washington, where the story is centered. And so, we said, if we’re going to own the night, let’s own it all the way. DEADLINE: Piers, in terms of that ownership, you’ve got a four-hour live show tonight. From your ringmaster position, what’s the big issue here? PIERS MORGAN: I mean look you always have to factor in the Trump unpredictability factor when it comes to trying to work out how people are going to vote. That’s been proven since he first came into the political arena in 2015. So, I think that you have to be mindful of that. Having said that, the number of pollsters I’ve seen who’ve been suggesting that if anything, they are downplaying their expectation of how big the Democrat win may be, I think, is very telling. DEADLINE: How so? MORGAN: I think, if anything, they’re probably all terrified they’re going to get found out again. If anything, they’d be ultra cautious. And they all seem to be indicating there’s going to be a big Democratic wave. So, I would be astonished if we don’t see a big Democrat wave. I think I think the House is gone for the Republicans. st a question of how big. I suspect it might be bigger than some people think, DEADLINE: One of the factors we saw in 2024, as more platforms stepped into the election coverage zone was an attempt to break from tradition .. MORGAN: Really? DEADLINE: Yes. I’ve always thought American election coverage is just like American sports coverage, where the bombard you with a zillion statistics to fill the results void. Nowadays, with access to the data available so readily, I don’t want the hype of the statistics. I want to know if you can tell me whether or not someone hit the basket. MORGAN: Yes, I agree. I did a few election coverage nights for the for CNN, and they’re sort of exciting. They’re fun for the journalists, but you do bombard viewers with a lot of information, which is kind of irrelevant. What Uncensored plans to do tonight is tell you what which of the baskets are important, which is significant, what the big picture is throughout the evening, and what the mood music is like at the key places. You know, 90% of the results that come in are kind of irrelevant. I personally, even I find that boring, and I’m quite a politics nerd. What we’re going to offer is much more of a big picture, opinion-led coverage live. DEADLINE: How? MORGAN: What does it all mean? What are the consequences? Which are the big moments? And with us, we’re going to cut through all the statistical tedium hopefully. This is the aspiration of the night. We’re going to cut to the relevant stuff and debate that properly. I think, as a viewer, if I was watching that, I’d find that more interesting. JONES: And the reality is, all of the information most of the networks are pulling from is the same AP feed. So, there’s nothing differentiating about that. We’ll have that same information, but what we’re adding to the mix is analysis, perspective, context, and point of view. MORGAN: We haven’t done a four-hour live special like this before. It’s going to be a very exciting night for Uncensored. It comes off the back of some big wins we’ve had in the political arena. For Zelensky to come to London and only do one on-camera interview and to choose to do my show and to come into my studio, which he did when everybody wanted him. He ended up seeing the King, the Prime Minister, and me on that trip. If you’re CNN or BBC or Sky or all the other mainstream media outlets who would have expected him to do them, you’ve got to be thinking, “Wow, okay, what does this mean?” I think what it means is that Zelensky and his team calculated that they get a lot more bang for their buck if they do my show. DEADLINE: In terms of that bang and those bucks, let’s forward lean, Rashida. JONES: Okay DEADLINE: You joined with Pierce earlier this year. You guys are franchising like crazy. You got Royals, History Uncensored, Football Uncensored, sort of boggles my mind why you don’t have Hollywood Uncensored and Crime Uncensored …JONES: Oh, watch this space.DEADLINE: Ah, as they say, stay tuned. But let’s talk about the evolution of what you guys are doing because clearly tonight is a steppingstone for the general in 2028. You’re stress testing what you can do, right? So, after this flex, where are you guys are going next?JONES: For us, we’re looking at not only where does this get us in 2028, but also where people already gravitating towards. More people are watching this type of content on YouTube than any other platform. People are watching multiple genres across these types of platforms. You mentioned true crime, you mentioned Hollywood. These are all areas that we’re interested in, and so we’re not just looking at how do we deliver more content, but the other piece of this is how do we deliver more content in different ways. DEADLINE: What’s the plan? JONES: You know, we built a subscription strategy and a membership community where our audience is not only getting ad-free content, but original content, exclusive content. So now we’re talking to people in another place where they already are. We’re looking at how do we bring our content onto new platforms, whether it’s AVOD, SVOD, fast channels, but also licensing to existing platforms, including linear networks and linear channels where people already are DEADLINE: So, more stayed tuned? JONES: (LAUGHS) Yes. MORGAN: The game plan really has been to build as big an audience as possible, and then to start building out your commercial family, if you like, people are going to be really invested and want to have a proper stake in what you have. Want to get an early side of really exclusive content and read newsletters and so on. The singular model a lot of people do, but we think we’ve built up a very very big global audience You know, tonight, for example, we’ll be live streaming it on X as well. You know, we don’t really mind how many platforms we’re on, the more the merrier. DEADLINE: Seriously, Rashida, are you guys in discussions right now with cable, satellite and linear TV? JONES: Well,Uncensored the franchise is multiple things, and so absolutely, you may see more of Pierce, more Royals, History, Football, and anything else we bring to the table, not just on YouTube, it’s hitting your inbox. It’s you know we’re having some active discussions around where should our content appear. We’ve already got one licensing deal with Skydance’s Channel Five in the UK. We’ve got active conversations in other territories, and so that’s now a big part of where we’re focused. I think this is a big differentiator for us from a business standpoint. It’s not just a matter of how do we chunk out more stuff, but how do we reach multiple people on multiple platforms in multiple areas across the world? And that’s another thing that’s unique for us is we’ve got a really broad global audience, and so we’re being very prescriptive in how we meet and how we reach those audiences in multiple different countries. DEADLINE: Piers, you spoke earlier about the Trump wild card of tonight, but what is the other issue that you are centering on for tonight’s midterms? MORGAN: I would say the economy, the economy, the economy.DEADLINE: That’s very James Carville of you.MORGAN: Well, it is. I think it is always the economy, stupid. If the economy does well, the incumbents tend to do well. If the economy is doing badly. Incumbents tend to get punished. I would also say is it’s interwoven to me with the Iran war, which has been the whole catalyst for the U.S. economy. Now, by comparison to most countries in the world, the U.S. economy is doing very very nicely, thank you. But it would be doing an awful lot better, and you wouldn’t have the gas prices as they are if America and Israel hadn’t attacked Iran back in February. I think most people look at it and think the thing’s become a complete mess. I suspect Donald Trump, if he was being honest with himself, wishes he never got into it. It’s very hard to see how America extricates itself neatly from this mess now, and the consequence of the Iran War. If the Republicans lose both the House and the Senate, I think it will be, in my estimation, entirely down to that decision to attack Iran and the economic fallout from that decision. DEADLINE: In your estimation, coming as you have from print, the Apprentice, CNN and everything else, why has Uncensored worked so well? MORGAN: I’m very glad that you recognize what we’re doing because I think that it’s been building a real head of steam. I don’t think there are many shows in the world right now in our space where you could say we’re genuinely impartial. We genuinely have everybody on. We genuinely have not only very lively debates constantly, but we also have very thoughtful one-on-one interviews. In the last six weeks alone, I’ve had a big one-on-one with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Phil Collins, the rock star, all very different in their own way. All did huge numbers on our channel. All did even bigger numbers on all our other social media platforms. And I think it’s indicative that people are now. You know, when I was at CNN doing that show, I got all the big names because it was CNN. We’re now getting them all on Piers Morgan Uncensored because we now have the audience and we treat the content properly in a way that they want to be part of it. DEADLINE: Is there a secret sauce you can share with the rest of the media world? MORGAN: I think that ultimately, we want to show how a YouTube show like ours can do this in a more interesting and energizing way than just rattling off statistic after statistic. We’re the place to come if you actually want to challenge your own views, and hear all views and conclude which one you think you’re most persuaded by. That’s what I hope tonight we do. JONES: What he said.