MSNBC is backing Joy Reid, even as more of her controversial, offensive blog posts have been resurfaced.
The cable network issued a statement of support for Joy Reid on Friday, coupled with a new apology from the host about her past blog posts. However, she did not take ownership of a new set of posts allegedly written by her more than a decade ago.
“Some of the things written by Joy on her old blog are obviously hateful and hurtful,” the network said Friday. “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.”
Related Stories
In her own, lengthy statement, Reid said she’s “sincerely apologizing again” for her past writings, which are alledged to include homophobic blog posts.
“While I published my blog, starting in 2005, I wrote thousands of posts in real time on the issues of the day,” Reid said in part. “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.”
Reid continued: “I’m sorry for the collateral damage and pain this is causing individuals and communities caught in the crossfire.”
She also addressed specific, new blog posts resurfaced by BuzzFeed News that have her byline, including one that featured a doctored image of Sen. John McCain on the body of the Virginia Tech shooter.
“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 Friday. “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.”
In April, the issue flared up when screenshots of homophobic blog posts were surfaced on Twitter. At the time, Reid’s lawyer said that the FBI was investigating whether or not her old blog was hacked in order to alter the content of the posts. However, no evidence was presented to support the theory of hacking.
On April 28, Reid gave a televised apology on her show AM Joy, saying that, “I genuinely do not believe I wrote those hateful things. But I can definitely understand, based on things I have said and have written in the past, that some people don’t believe me.”
