Joy Reid Dealt Serious Blow as LGBT Group Rescinds Award
Despite her claims of being the victim of hackers who want to taint her character, MSNBC host Joy Reid is beginning to receive some backlash after a series of homophobic posts were discovered on a blog she previously managed.
The gay rights group PFLAG National rescinded an invitation Tuesday for Reid to receive the group’s Straight for Equality in Media award. The MSNBC personality had been scheduled to receive the award next month at a gathering honoring the group’s 45th anniversary.
We have rescinded our Straight for Equality in Media award honors to @JoyAnnReid. Our statement here: https://t.co/jBLXiZqCyJ
— PFLAG National (@PFLAG) April 24, 2018
The group’s decision comes just days after a report by Mediaite that featured a number of excerpts from Reid’s blog that she authored prior to her joining MSNBC. The excerpts were discovered by Twitter user @Jamie_Maz, who used a web tool called the Wayback Machine to find screen shots of posts that no longer exist.
Among the posts uncovered were Reid saying she opposed gay marriage, a listing of celebrities who Reid believed were gay but had not come out, mocking the “lesbian” haircuts of the women who were the directors of the National Organization of Women and the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and described the working relationship of then-President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain as being homosexual in nature.
This is the second time posts of a homophobic nature have been unearthed from the defunct blog. In November, the same Twitter user printed excerpts of Reid’s blog from 2007-2009 that included accusations of then-Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida as being a closeted homosexual.
In December, Reid issued an apology, saying her writings were “insensitive, tone deaf and dumb” and “not based on my intentions.”
However, Reid told Mediaite the newest uncovered posts were somehow put into the blog by an “external party” that “manipulated material from my now-defunct blog.”
“In December I learned that an unknown, external party accessed and manipulated material from my now-defunct blog, The Reid Report, to include offensive and hateful references that are fabricated and run counter to my personal beliefs and ideology,” Reid said in a statement.
“I began working with a cyber-security expert who first identified the unauthorized activity, and we notified federal law enforcement officials of the breach. The manipulated material seems to be part of an effort to taint my character with false information by distorting a blog that ended a decade ago.
“Now that the site has been compromised I can state unequivocally that it does not represent the original entries. I hope that whoever corrupted the site recognizes the pain they have caused, not just to me, but to my family and communities that I care deeply about: LGBTQ, immigrants, people of color and other marginalized groups.”
Reid’s claims did not sway representatives of PFLAG National, who announced Tuesday the decision to rescind the invitation for Reid to accept the award.
“When we extended our invitation to Ms. Reid to honor her at our 45th anniversary celebration, we did so knowing about the blog posts from the late 2000s regarding Charlie Crist. We appreciated how she stepped up, took ownership, apologized for them, and did better — this is the behavior and approach we ask of any ally,” Jean Hodges, PFLAG National president, said in a statement.
“However, in light of new information, and the ongoing investigation of that information, we must at this time rescind our award to Ms. Reid,” Hodges added.
Reid’s claims of her being the victim of a hack were denied by a representative of the Wayback Machine, who said in a blog post Tuesday that his company “found nothing to indicate tampering or hacking of the Wayback Machine versions.”
The statement also said the company informed Reid’s lawyers that the evidence “was not sufficient for us to verify claims of manipulation.”
MSNBC has not offered an official comment about the matter, but CNN reported Wednesday that MSNBC told the network an independent security consultant claims he has “significant evidence” to prove the recently uncovered posts are not authentic.
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