MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid has issued a statement apologizing for a series of homophobic blog posts she wrote a decade ago, calling them “insensitive, tone-deaf and dumb.”
The series of blogs, which ran from 2007 to 2009, centered on former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. The posts, which Reid wrote as part of her personal blog, the Reid Report, fueled speculation that Crist was gay, and referred to the former governor as “Miss Charlie” repeatedly.
Reid’s statement apologizing for the posts was shared Sunday to multiple outlets, including NBC News and Newsweek, as well as to her Facebook page. In it, the host of MSNBC’s AM Joy called the criticism of her words and tone legitimate.
“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,” Reid wrote. She added that the posts were a “ham-handed way” of calling out Crist’s stance on LGBT issues, including his opposition to gay marriage.
Twitter user @Jamie_Maz found the posts and shared them Thursday.
“What wouldn’t Charlie Crist do to become John McCain’s running mate? Cross ‘marry an actual woman’ off the list,’” Reid wrote in an old blog post about Crist’s marriage to then-wife Carole Rome.
“I can just see poor Charlie on the honeymoon, ogling the male waiters and thinking to himself, ‘god, do I actually have to see her naked?’” Reid wrote in another post. At the time, Reid hosted a morning talk-radio program and wrote a column for the Miami Herald.
The tweets—and Reid’s old blogs—circulated widely over the weekend, and the criticism for their homophobic content mounted.
“In addition to friends and coworkers and viewers, I deeply apologize to Congressman Crist, who was the target of my thoughtlessness,” Reid wrote in her statement. “My critique of anti-LGBT positions he once held but has since abandoned was legitimate in my view. My means of critiquing were not.”
Crist responded to Reid’s apology via Twitter.
“Long forgotten, but thank you, Joy. I appreciate you,” the congressman wrote.
“Re-reading those old blog posts, I am disappointed in myself,” Reid added. “I apologize to those who also are disappointed in me. Life can be humbling. It often is. But I hope that you know where my heart is, and that I will always strive to use my words for good. I know better and I will do better.”
You can read the full statement, which appeared in Variety, below:
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.
In 2007 I was a morning talk radio host and blogger, writing about Florida politics (a blog I maintained until 2011.) Among the frequent subjects of my posts was then-governor Charlie Crist, at the time a conservative Republican, whose positions on issues like gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples in Florida shared headlines with widely rumored reports that he was hiding his sexual orientation. Those reports were the subject of lots of scrutiny: by LGBTQ bloggers, writers and journalists, conservative blogs, a controversial documentary film called “Outrage,” and even by the comedic writers at South Park. But it was my own attempt at challenging Crist on my blog that has now raised the issue of not just my choice of words, but what was and is in my heart.
Let me be clear: at no time have I intentionally sought to demean or harm the LGBT community, which includes people whom I deeply love. My goal, in my ham-handed way, was to call out potential hypocrisy.
Nonetheless, as someone who is not a member of the LGBT community, I regret the way I addressed the complex issue of the closet and speculation on a person’s sexual orientation with a mocking tone and sarcasm. It was insensitive, tone deaf and dumb. There is no excusing it – not based on the taste-skewing mores of talk radio or the then-blogosphere, and not based on my intentions.
In addition to friends and coworkers and viewers, I deeply apologize to Congressman Crist, who was the target of my thoughtlessness. My critique of anti-LGBT positions he once held but has since abandoned was legitimate in my view. My means of critiquing were not.
In the years since I went from blogger to opinion journalist, I have also learned, through brilliant friends and allies in the LGBT activist community, how to better frame my critiques of those who challenge people’s right to love who they want, marry them, and walk in the world as fully free people.
Re-reading those old blog posts, I am disappointed in myself. I apologize to those who also are disappointed in me. Life can be humbling. It often is. But I hope that you know where my heart is, and that I will always strive to use my words for good. I know better and I will do better.