MSNBC Responds After Host Accused of Anti-Gay Statements
MSNBC is sticking by host Joy Reid and will keep her on the air despite the discovery of anti-gay posts from her blog in the 2000s.
Reid has claimed her blog was hacked and her posts were compromised.
She has contacted law enforcement about the issue, and NBC will hold off on taking any permanent action until it hears back, according to a network representative who spoke with Politico.
NBC declined to say if it will be conducting its own investigation, Politico reported.
Reid did not reply to its request for comment.
An LGBTQ group revoked Reid’s “Straight for Equality in Media” award, which she was to receive in May.
She claims hackers fabricated the slurs, though her story has become more convoluted.
Joy Reid claims a recent batch of screenshots appearing to show homophobic statements on her now-defunct blog are “fraudulent” and the result of a cyberattack. However, several aspects of the cyberattack claim seem *highly questionable.* https://t.co/HK5Cj3W9yC
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) April 26, 2018
The posts were critical of gay marriage and implied homosexual men prey on young teenagers, according to Politico.
They also mention fellow MSNBC host Rachel Maddow as having views on homosexuality that are “at the left-most end of the political spectrum.”
“Most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing,” one of the posts states, Politico reported. “The nature of political correctness is that gay people are allowed to say straight sex is gross, but the reverse is considered to be patently homophobic.”
These statements seem to clash with Reid’s image as a champion of the LGBTQ movement.
This isn’t the first time Reid has been criticized for her public views on homosexuality. In 2007, she went after former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, suggesting he is a closeted homosexual.
“Miss Charlie, Miss Charlie,” she wrote. “Stop pretending, brother. It’s okay that you don’t go for the ladies.”
Reid made amends in December 2017 after the Crist post surfaced, and she released a written apology.
“This note is my apology to all who are disappointed by the content of blogs I wrote a decade ago, for which my choice of words and tone have legitimately been criticized. As a writer, I pride myself on a facility with language — an economy of words or at least some wisdom in the selection. However, that clearly has not always been the case.”
A version of this article previously appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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