MSNBC Host Joy Reid Apologizes For Homophobic Attacks On Charlie Crist

MSNBC host Joy Reid apologized Sunday after a Twitter user dug up a number of homophobic blog posts written by the news anchor in the past, attacking former Florida governor Charlie Crist’s closeted homosexuality.

“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,” Reid told Mediaite, in a statement.

Reid further said her past behavior had not only taught her the importance of choosing the right words to express herself, but also caused her to reflect on her stance toward the issue. “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,” Reid said in her statement.

“In addition to friends and coworkers and viewers, I deeply apologize to Congressman Crist, who was the target of my thoughtlessness,” she added.

The apology came after Jamie.M., a Twitter user, dug up the internet archives and found that between the period of 2007-2009, Reid had posted a number of homophobic comments in her post in the now-defunct blog, the Reid Report. Twelve of the bigoted posts attacked Crist’s sexual orientation.

Although rumors about Crist’s homosexuality had circulated for a long time, he always denied it. Reid, however, insinuated through her posts that Reid was a hypocrite because being a closeted gay man, he opposed the notion of same-sex marriage. In her blog posts, Reid called the former Florida governor, “Miss Crist” 17 times and tagged him as one of the “gay politicians” who hid their sexual orientation in order to uphold the ideals of the Republican Party.

In one of the posts, Reid even joked about how Crist probably wished to be with a male waiter instead of his wife on his honeymoon. “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 …?’” she wrote. In another post, Reid mentioned that Crist must have married a woman just to become Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) running mate in the 2008 presidential election.

Crist was married twice, both of which ended in divorce. While his first marriage ended after just a year, he divorced his wife of nine years earlier in 2017, the Hill reported.

Reid made headlines for a controversial tweet about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in November. While commenting on the stream of sexual harassment allegations that were coming to light in the recent times, Reid talked about Sanders’s “physical dismissal” of women, including his wife Jane Sanders.

However, within a few hours, Jane took to Twitter and posted a reply, strongly condemning Reid’s comment and defending her husband. “I didn't answer your biased reporting about Bernie during the last 2 years @JoyAnnReid. But don't ever use me to demean my husband. I am very happy & very proud to be Bernie's wife. Your perception couldn't be more wrong. Have you ever talked with him? You've never spoken w/me,” Jane tweeted.