Mark Halperin leaving No Labels

Mark Halperin, the former top political commentator who was fired from NBC under a cloud of scandal, is leaving his current position as a senior communications adviser to the bipartisan group No Labels, the organization confirmed.

Halperin had been No Labels’ highest-paid employee after joining the group in 2021. The circumstances of his departure were not immediately clear. Two people familiar with the matter said he was forced out. A statement from No Labels framed the exit more amicably.

“Mark has been a valued member of the No Labels team these last two years. As we enter a new phase, Mark will be leaving us to focus on his other projects,” the statement read. “We will miss Mark, wish him well in whatever comes next, and appreciate the many contributions he has made to our movement.”

Halperin did not respond to a request for comment.

Halperin’s exit comes as No Labels seeks to launch an ambitious third-party presidential ticket in the 2024 cycle. The group has said that it’s raised or received commitments for tens of millions of dollars for that venture. But it has been rankled by internal staff turmoil and accusations that it prioritizes glitzy projects rather than practical solutions for achieving its aims of promoting bipartisan results to pressing national issues.

Halperin, who made his name as a star political journalist for ABC News, TIME Magazine and Bloomberg, was accused by multiple women in 2017 of sexual harassment, misconduct or assault — some of which he apologized for and others he denied.

Multiple No Labels staffers objected to Halperin joining the organization in April 2021. But the group’s co-executive director Liz Morrison told POLITICO last year that Halperin was “incredibly brilliant” and was an asset to the organization. In 2021, he received nearly $260,000 in total compensation, making him No Labels’ highest-paid employee, according to the organization’s 990 tax form.

No Labels also said last year it has never had a complaint about any employees or contractors engaging in sexual harassment at the group.

Two people familiar with the situation said Halperin, who is no longer listed as an employee on the group’s website, had been unhappy with No Labels and had begun to bristle at the office culture there.

“He didn’t like the fact that his career had reached the point where he was running the digital team for Nancy Jacobson,” said one former No Labels employee who worked closely with him.