Joy Reid Apology: MSNBC Host Finds Support From LGBT Community After Addressing ‘Cruel And Hateful’ Comments
Joy Reid is earning support from many in the LGBT community after the MSNBC host took to the air to issue an apology for what she said were “cruel and hateful” remarks she made years ago.
This week, a series of years-old blog posts surfaced showing Reid making homophobic comments, prompting the television host to tell Mediaite that her site had been hacked. But Reid appeared to walk back that excuse in offering an apology on Saturday, admitting that there was no evidence her site had been hacked.
“A community that I support and that I deeply care about is hurting because of some despicable and truly offensive posts being attributed to me,” Reid said in remarks on her show, AM Joy. “Many of you have seen the blog posts circulating online and in social media. Many of them are homophobic, discriminatory and outright weird and hateful.”
Joy Reid said during her apology that she was “stunned” to see the old blog posts and had been trying to make sense of them. She owned up to the remarks.
“I have not been exempt from being dumb or cruel or hurtful to the very people I want to advocate for. I own that. I get it. And for that I am truly, truly sorry,” Reid added.
“I feel like I should have known better than to ever write or tweet in a way that could make fun of or make light of that pain and that experience,” she continued.
“Even a decade ago when the country was in a very different place. But I cannot take any of that back. I can only say that the person I am now is not the person I was then.”
Joy Reid went on to host an LGBT panel to discuss challenges faced by the community and why derogatory remarks are especially hurtful. The apology was well-received by many, including some prominent members of the LGBT community who expressed their support for the MSNBC host.
Some noted that in the years since the remarks were first published, Joy Reid has become a defender of the LGBT community and ally against efforts from Donald Trump to restrict the rights of gay and transgender people.
I am gay and I support @JoyAnnReid. Whether her blogs were hacked or her position evolved makes no difference to me. I see her NOW and everything she is fighting for is the same thing I am fighting for—an America that embraces all of us for who we are. ?????? #AMJoy
— Ryan Knight ?? (@ProudSocialist) April 28, 2018
Amen, @EricHolder. As a long-time defender of LGBTQ rights, I too believe @JoyAnnReid is an indispensable voice for equal dignity for all and that her heartfelt apology should be accepted. Let s/he who has never done anything needing an apology toss the first stone. https://t.co/9oEXnTgYjE
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) April 28, 2018
Joy Reid took complete ownership of her past anti-LGBT remarks and her apology is both genuine and sincere. Her record on advancing LGBT rights is more than sound. Those still attacking her have no ground to stand on other than petty hatred or revenge. #AMJoy
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) April 28, 2018
In her apology, Joy Reid maintained that she did not believe she wrote the remarks, and some took issue with her not offering a full apology. Experts have said there is no indication that her site had been hacked or altered in any way.
Joy Reid apologizes for 'hurtful' LGBT comments, doesn't 'believe' she wrote anti-gay posts https://t.co/QszhoqM9a7 pic.twitter.com/BPADSldOpP
— POLITICO (@politico) April 28, 2018
But not all appear ready to forgive Joy Reid after her apology. An LGBT advocacy group, PFLAG National, rescinded an award to Reid as an ally of the LGBT community in the days after the blog posts were made public, Mediaite noted.
