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Joy Reid's old homophobic posts resurface amid rumors of MSNBC pulling plug on The ReidOut

Reid published several stories on her now-defunct The Reid Report website that accused former Florida governor Charlie Crist of being a closeted homosexual

After a rumor spread on the internet that MSNBC host Joy Reid might be fired by the network in Spring, old homophobic posts from 2000s that she had attributed to her account being hacked, have resurfaced on Twitter. 

Jon Nicosia, a former editor at Mediaite, tweeted on Thursday, January 6, that an anonymous source at Comcast told him Reid’s fate had been sealed. “Joy Reid will lose her 7p show in the next round of reshuffling at MSNBC,” the source said, according to Nicosia. “She does not have a show come mid Spring,” and the “decision has been made, the only thing left is messaging on the move, which will be ratings.”

“As was the case with Chris Cuomo at CNN, Reid has allies at Comcast, however, she is now viewed as ‘unmanageable’ by many. Also, similar to Cuomo, it appears those allies have found out she has been ‘less than truthful about past incidents,’” Nicosia continued. He added that he expected “MSNBC/Comcast to defend her right until the announcement," just like Cuomo.

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Joy Reid's homophobic posts

Reid published several stories on her now-defunct The Reid Report website that criticized former Florida governor Charlie Crist and accused him of being a closeted homosexual. The blog posts gained public spotlight on November 30 when Twitter user @Jamie_Maz posted screenshots from Reid's website on Twitter. Crist, who has been married twice to women, was referred to by Reid as "Miss Charlie" and tagged under the category "gay politicians."

Her posts also suggested that Tom Cruise, Karl Rove, and Chief Justice John Robert’s son are gay, without any evidence. Other posts made derogatory remarks about gay people, claiming that “most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing” and that “adult gay men tend to be attracted to very young, post-pubescent types.” One post acknowledged, “Does that make me homophobic? Probably.”

Reid, 48, apologized in a lengthy Facebook post in December 2017 after the posts went viral. She said her decade-old writings were "insensitive, tone-deaf and dumb." "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," wrote Reid. In her apology, Reid said: "Let me be clear: at no time have I intentionally sought to demean or harm the LGBT community, which includes people whom I deeply love. My goal, in my ham-handed way, was to call out potential hypocrisy. Nonetheless, as someone who is not a member of the LGBT community, I regret the way I addressed the complex issue of the closet and speculation on a person's sexual orientation with a mocking tone and sarcasm. It was insensitive, tone deaf and dumb. 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."

However, in 2018, she claimed that she doesn’t “believe” that she wrote the blog posts, suggesting that they were the result of an elaborate hack. In a statement to Mediaite, Reid said that the blog posts were the work of hackers and “part of an effort to taint my character with false information by distorting a blog that ended a decade ago.” Reid also acknowledged the skepticism on her show: “When a friend found [the posts] in December and sent them to me, I was stunned. Frankly, I couldn’t imagine where they’d come from or whose voice that was. In the months since, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make sense of these posts. I hired cybersecurity experts to see if somebody had manipulated my words or my former blog. And the reality is they have not been able to prove it.”

'What a homophobic race-baiter can do'

She also sent out a number of homophobic tweets that have recently resurfaced online. Reid was blasted by social media users, who called her out for being homophobic. "@JoyAnnReid is the most racist and homophobic person on TV. @MSNBC @maddow," one of them said, while another noted, "Amazing what a homophobic race-baiter can do." A third commented, "Don't confuse Reid with facts. She can't even stand behind her own statements. Blamed her homophobic statements on her account being hacked. She's widely recognized has having 0 credibility." The next remarked, "She lied about Officer Sicknick being beaten to death with a fire extinguisher She lied about Jacob Blake being unarmed She lied about her account being hacked when her homophobic comments were exposed." A commenter tweeted, "Did she ever catch that homophobic time-traveling hacker?"

One more quipped, "Will you be going back to your 'hacked' homophobic blog after your show is canceled?" Another added, "I'll wait till the Racist card is played by Joy Reid as why her show is getting canceled. Not that the Network is wanting to avoid Kyle Rittenhouse lawsuit & Reid's culpability or the fact Rerun Shows get more views or Homophobic blogs by Reid." A person reacted with, "Because @JoyAnnReid is an awful person and even worse 'reporter' of news. Remember when she made homophobic comments and then lied and said her Twitter was hacked? And then admitted it wasn’t. She’s a typical liberal hypocrite. #liberalismisamentaldisorder."

Another stated, "JOY REID is OUT. Reid’s past behavior include homophobic statements posted to various blogs, which she initially lied about writing. After her comments resurfaced, she claimed to be a victim of an elaborate hack."