Tiffany Cross isn’t going out without a fight.
MSNBC abruptly ousted the anchor earlier this month — and she’s hired the same lawyer who raked sister network NBC over the coals for its treatment of Gabrielle Union after her exit from “America’s Got Talent” and won a bumper payout for Chris Harrison in his dispute with ABC over “The Bachelor.”
We’re told Cross suspects that network head Rashida Jones has a personal beef with the former “Cross Connection” host, and that Cross worries there was something untoward going on behind the scenes. So she retained power attorney Bryan Freedman, who also repped Megyn Kelly in her dispute with NBC.
“The lawyers have been in touch. She wants to know why she got fired,” a source said.
“What’s the business case for letting her go? Brian Williams lied and they brought him back. Joe [Scarborough] and Mika [Brzezinski] had a [romance], and they expanded their hours and paid them more money. Many people in the business feel like [Cross] was made an example out of.”
We’re told MSNBC president Jones “called Tiffany directly and said they won’t be renewing her contract, effective immediately,” when she got the axe.
Sources previously told The Post one of the reasons Cross was canned was for “racking up as much as $100,000 in expenses for five-star hotel stays” at places like the Beverly Wilshire in LA. But a source familiar with the network huffed, “Joe and Mika stay there all the time.”
Former MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann even came to Cross’ defense and called out the network for being “full of s–t.”
“It’s a tradition as old as MSNBC itself,” he tweeted. “If an anchor leaves – or she gets fired – when NBC gets slammed for it, it anonymously [smears] the talent and [portrays] them as a prima donna.”
Reps for the fired anchor and MSNBC did not comment.