Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski has apologized for calling Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, a “butt boy.” Brzezinski made the comment during an on-air discussion about an interview Pompeo gave to Fox News in which he addressed the Jamal Khashoggi killing and other topics.
“Is that a patriot speaking, or a wannabe dictator’s butt boy? Dead serious, I’m asking: Are these the words of a patriot?” Brzezinski said, as reported by E! Online.
On Friday, she offered an apology for using the term which is considered by many to be a homophobic slur.
“I wanted to address a term that I used on this show on Wednesday that was vulgar…” she said on the air on Friday. ” I knew it right away, and I tweeted that it was a terrible choice of words and that I was sorry.The term is crass and offensive, and I apologize to everyone—especially the LGBTQ community and to my colleagues—for using it.”
As E! notes, Brzezinski first apologized on Twitter, after photographer G.E. Anderson tweeted his disgust at the fact that she used the term. He suggested that there were many other words other than “butt-boy” to convey her thoughts about Mike Pompeo’s performance during the interview.
“Totally agree with you -SUPER BAD choice of words,” she tweeted. “I should have said “water boy”… like for football teams or something like that..”
. @morningmika just asked if Mike Pompeo is a “wannabe dictator’s butt boy,” as homophobic a term as I’ve heard on national morning television. @MSNBC tried and failed to censor it, and did not transcribe her remark in the closed captioning. #journalism pic.twitter.com/3zK7H8evjh
— Gregory Anderson (@g_e_anderson) December 12, 2018
Brzezinski joins Kevin Hart on the list of celebrities who have been called out for using homophobic language. Hart recently turned down a chance to host the Oscars in 2019 because he initially refused to apologize for old tweets that included homophobic slurs.
In one of the now-deleted tweets from 2011, the comedian wrote that he would break a dollhouse over his son’s head if he found the boy playing with it because “that’s gay.” In another tweet, he used the words, “fat f*g” He also made some offensive jokes about AIDS as well, WIRED notes.
Hart eventually apologized via Twitter after the prospect of hosting the Academy Awards was off the table.
I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscar’s….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
In her apology, Brzezinski promised to ” be better” in the future and said that her father would have been disappointed to hear the language that she had used on air.
MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski apologizes for homophobic comment to describe Mike Pompeo: https://t.co/odqh7QGCO5 pic.twitter.com/HHLxQbwQ4Q
— 7News DC (@7NewsDC) December 13, 2018