MSNBC host Joy Reid apologized to the LGBTQ community after a series of homophobic blog posts from her now-deleted blog, the Reid Report, surfaced online earlier this week. She faced a similar issue in December 2017, when different posts with similar homophobic sentiments surfaced, and she apologized then as well. During this most recent scandal, Reid had blamed hackers for getting into her old blog and changing the words. On Saturday morning, Reid admitted that cybersecurity experts have not been able to find evidence of hacking, and sincerely apologized for the words.
.@MSNBC's Joy Reid addresses homophobic blog posts:
"I genuinely do not believe I wrote those hateful things ... But I can definitely understand, based on things I have tweeted and have written in the past, why some people don't believe me." pic.twitter.com/PWjdPfs5KB
“When a friend found [these blog posts] in December and sent them to me, I was stunned,” Reid began. “Frankly, I couldn’t imagine where they’d come from or whose voice that was.”
“I genuinely do not believe I wrote those hateful things, because they are so alien to me,” she continued. “But I can definitely understand, based on things I have tweeted and have written in the past, why some people don’t believe me.”
Vox reports that the most recent posts included remarks that “most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing” and that “adult gay men tend to be attracted to very young, post-pubescent types.” They also included accusations that Tom Cruise, Karl Rove, and Chief Justice John Roberts’s son are gay. In addition, a newly resurfaced tweet from Reid allegedly made fun of conservative pundit Ann Coulter by making transphobic remarks.
"@ricksanchezcnn: i'm going to interview ann coulter tonite , what do u want me to ask her?" /don't you mean "shim?"
The posts uncovered back in December contained similar language. Reid accused then-Florida Governor Charlie Crist of being gay, nicknaming him “Miss Charlie.” Back then, Reid acknowledged that those comments were “insensitive, tone-deaf and dumb.” Crist accepted her apology.
1/x From 2007 to 2009 @joyannreid authored a dozen homophobic posts not only attempting to out Charlie Crist as gay, she attacked & mocked him for being so.
She repeatedly referred to him as "Miss Charlie" and tagged posts about him under "gay politicians." (thread) pic.twitter.com/tRYvJ3lTc8
Long forgotten, but thank you, Joy. I appreciate you.
In a statement made on Monday, Reid called the newly discovered blog posts the work of hackers, who were “part of an effort to taint my character with false information by distorting a blog that ended a decade ago.” These blog posts were archived by internet crawlers and were dated to the mid-to-late 2000s. Reid was not an MSNBC host then, or a well known public figure, which some argued would give hackers little to no incentive to hack her.
Reid acknowledged today that the hacking story cannot be proven. She also said that she grew up with a conservative mindset, and although she thinks differently now, she has been more close-minded towards gay people in the past.
“I have not been exempt from being dumb or cruel or hurtful to the very people I want to advocate for,” she said on Saturday. “I own that. For that, I am truly, truly sorry.”
“I cannot take any of that back. I can only say that the person I am now is not the person I was then. I know that my goal is to try to be a better person and a better ally,” she continued.
“I’m hoping, out of all of this, there’s an opportunity to talk about the ways in which hurtful speech really does imperil marginalized communities,” Reid said.
