Joe Simonson on December 4, 2017
MSNBC host Joy Reid apologized Sunday for blog posts she made years ago that attacked then-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s sexuality, accusing him of harboring a hidden gay second life.
“This note is my apology to all who are disappointed by the content of blogs I wrote a decade ago, for which my choice of words and tone have legitimately been criticized,” Reid wrote in a statement. “As a writer, I pride myself on a facility with language — an economy of words or at least some wisdom in the selection. However, that clearly has not always been the case.”
Reid initially came under fire when a Twitter user found rants on her old blog that mocked Crist as a closeted gay man. Crist has been married twice, which Reid alleged were merely covers for his true sexual orientation, although he has never identified as homosexual.
“Miss Charlie, Miss Charlie. Stop pretending, brother. It’s okay that you don’t go for the ladies,” a 2007 post by Reid read.
Reid also accused Crist of using his wives as political cover because GOP voters would disapprove of his true lifestyle. No evidence exists that Crist has ever tried engaging in, or hiding, any romantic affairs with other men.
In her apology, Reid says she was just riffing on “rumors” about Crist’s sexual orientation.
“It was insensitive, tone deaf and dumb,” Reid said. “There is no excusing it – not based on the taste-skewing mores of talk radio or the then-blogosphere, and not based on my intentions. In addition to friends and coworkers and viewers, I deeply apologize to Congressman Crist, who was the target of my thoughtlessness. My critique of anti-LGBT positions he once held but has since abandoned was legitimate in my view. My means of critiquing were not.”
Crist accepted her apology in a tweet, claiming the blog posts were “long forgotten.”
Long forgotten, but thank you, Joy. I appreciate you.
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) December 4, 2017
