It seems like every few weeks the story about how Rachel Maddow is the real person running MSNBC.

Maddow strongly denies the story each and every time its reported. Then again as bad as MSNBC is doing, Phil Griffin might want to deny that he is running the place as well. 

The latest "Maddow Runs MSNBC" story comes from the Washington Post's Erik Wemple and he points to the comments made by Alec Baldwin in the New York Magazine.

.....Another told me, regarding the “toxic little queen” comment, that Rachel Maddow was the prime mover in my firing, as she was aghast that I had been hired and viewed me as equivalent to Mel Gibson. Another source told me, “You know who’s going to get you fired, don’t you? Rachel. Phil will do whatever Rachel tells him to do.” I think Rachel Maddow is quite good at what she does. I also think she’s a phony who doesn’t have the same passion for the truth off-camera that she seems to have on the air.

Wemple writes ah, once again: The Rachel-Maddow-runs-MSNBC narrative. In December, the New York Post picked up that same strain, reporting, “A colleague who has been at MSNBC for many years is said to have told Baldwin, ‘You ticked off the wrong person. You don’t know how things work here.’ ”

When the allegations surfaced, Maddow told the Erik Wemple Blog via a spokesperson: “This is categorically false. I have never had any role in any management decision at MSNBC. Any source who says otherwise is wrong.”

Strong denial. Weird denial, too — prompted by snarky suggestions that there’s something untoward about a woman with a proven record at the workplace acquiring influence with managers. When most people reach that stage — particularly when they’re men — they’re referred to as “leaders.”