Media

MSNBC, Joy Reid apologize for old blog posts but avoid hacking claim

by Joe Concha - 06/01/18 2:30 PM ET

MSNBC host Joy Reid apologized Friday afternoon for controversial content on her now-defunct blog.

MSNBC also issued a statement of support for Reid on Friday, coupled with a new statement from the host apologizing for her past blog posts but not taking ownership of all the posts allegedly written by her more than a decade ago.

The network said some of the things written on the blog, which have recently resurfaced, are “obviously hateful and hurtful.” Reid said she’s “sincerely apologizing again” for her past writings, but did not address her previous claim that the posts were a result of hacking.

“Some of the things written by Joy on her old blog are obviously hateful and hurtful,” the network said. “They are not reflective of the colleague and friend we have known at MSNBC for the past seven years. Joy has apologized publicly and privately and said she has grown and evolved in the many years since, and we know this to be true.”

{mosads}

Reid said in a lengthy statement that “there are things I deeply regret and am embarrassed by, things I would have said differently and issues where my position has changed.”

“While I published my blog, starting in 2005, I wrote thousands of posts in real time on the issues of the day,” Reid said. “There are things I deeply regret and am embarrassed by, things I would have said differently and issues where my position has changed. Today I’m sincerely apologizing again.”

“I’m sorry for the collateral damage and pain this is causing individuals and communities caught in the crossfire,” she continued.

Reid, the host of “AM Joy” on weekends on MSNBC and a rising star at the network, also specifically addressed a photoshopped image posted of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) depicting him as the mass shooter who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007.

“To be clear, I have the highest respect for Sen. McCain as a public servant and patriot and wish him and his family the best,” she said. “I have reached out to Meghan McCain and will continue to do so. She is a former on-air colleague and I feel deeply for her and her family.”

Meghan McCain, the Arizona senator’s daughter, worked for MSNBC before going to Fox News and eventually ABC’s “The View.”

Reid also addressed an old blog post that urged readers to view a documentary called “Loose Change,” which accused the U.S. government of carrying out the 9/11 attacks. The conspiracy documentary was co-produced by Infowars founder Alex Jones.

“I’ve also spoken openly about my evolution on many issues and know that I’m a better person today than I was over a decade ago. I am the daughter of immigrants and have worked to be a strong ally of these communities. There is no question in my mind that Al Qaeda perpetrated the 9/11 attacks or about Israel’s right to its sovereignty,” Reid said.

“I believe the totality of my work attests to my ideals and I continue to grow every day,” she concluded.

The conservative website The Federalist unearthed an additional post this week that Reid did not address, in which she charged that CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was biased toward “his Israeli guests.”

Many journalists noted that neither Reid nor MSNBC addressed the host’s assertion in April that her blog posts, which were first unearthed then, were the work of hackers.

Reid had also said at the time that senior law enforcement officials had been contacted to investigate the claims, but did not name a specific agency.

Incredibly, nowhere in this statement does @JoyAnnReid directly say she did or did not write the posts in question, and she also frames the reporting on her blog as pure political warfare – “individuals caught in the crossfire.” This is about basic journalistic transparency

— Joe Bernstein (@Bernstein) June 1, 2018

It’s also notable what ISN’T in Joy Reid’s apology: any mention of the alleged hacking pic.twitter.com/0EzOF0LsIA

— Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) June 1, 2018

So we’re just calling off that FBI investigation then or… https://t.co/6NfLX7SIa9

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) June 1, 2018

.@JoyAnnReid issues statement apologizing for inflammatory posts about McCain, 9/11, Israel on her former blog. Doesn’t address her hacking claims. pic.twitter.com/VRlB5a2f7U

— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) June 1, 2018

To recap: Some of the homophobic posts were written by Reid, but others were written by a hacker. The other posts—McCain as school shooter, Jews out of Israel, immigration as plot, 9/11 was a conspiracy—were just her poor judgment. This is a complex case. Hope the FBI’s up to it.

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) June 1, 2018