An MSNBC anchor used her show to try to do some spin control over the weekend, attempting to provide an explanation — whether it’s an apology is open to interpretation — after decade-old homophobic posts surfaced on her former blog.
Joy-Ann Reid addressed the issue on MSNBC Saturday morning on her “A.M. Joy” program after the posts were published by Mediaite. Reid distanced herself from the comments, saying: “I genuinely believe I did not write those hateful things because they are completely alien to me. But I can definitely understand based on things I have tweeted and have written in the past why some people don’t believe me.”
Reid previously told Mediaite that the posts were the result of a hack of her old blog, “The Reid Report.” But she admitted Saturday that a cybersecurity team hired to uncover the alleged hack was unable to prove her contention.
She said on her show: “The reality is, they have not been able to prove it. 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 like to think that I’ve gotten better over time, that I’m still growing.”
Reid has been dealing with the issue since December, with the latest Mediaite report apparently uncovering material that had not yet surfaced.
The newly published material includes a defense of what Mediaite call’s former NBA star Tim Hardaway’s “aggressively anti-gay comments.” The report quotes a passage from Reid’s old blog that says “most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing.”
Mediaite quotes the Reid Report article as follows:
“Keeping it real … most straight men feel exactly the same way, and would have the exact same reaction to the idea of stripping naked in a sweaty locker room in close quarters with a gay teammate. Most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing… Most straight people had a hard time being convinced to watch ‘Broke Back Mountain.’ (I admit that I couldn’t go see the movie either, despite my sister’s ringing endorsement, because I didn’t want to watch the two male characters having sex.) Does that make me homophobic? Probably.”
Disappointed in Joy and hope she has evolved.