Joy Reid Claims Newly Discovered Homophobic Posts From Her Blog Were "Fabricated"

[Ubiquitous]

Mediaite has obtained a series of homophobic posts from Joy Ann Reid’s
old blog that she denies were actually written by her.

In an exclusive statement to Mediaite, the MSNBC host claims these
posts from The Reid Report — which include defending homophobia, gay
jokes, and the outright mocking of gay people and homosexuality — were
somehow put in by an “external party” that “manipulated material from
my now-defunct blog.”

While Reid apologized in December for writing homophobic content on a
blog she ran long before her days as an icon of the #Resistance
movement, she claims these new posts opposing gay marriage and cringing
“at the sight of two men kissing” were part of a “fabricated” outside
effort to paint her as “offensive and hateful.”

These anti-gay articles from The Reid Report, a site that pre-dated
Reid’s former MSNBC show of the same name, were originally shared on
Twitter by user Jamie_Maz who found them using the Wayback Machine — an
Internet archiving service that takes periodic screenshots of popular
web pages to preserve them.

While the amateur sleuth provided Mediaite with legitimate links to all
of the posts they tweeted screenshots of, neither the actual defunct
site nor its archived pages are currently accessible, as their Wayback
Machine links mysteriously disappeared in December after Mediaite‘s
initial story on Reid’s homophobic comments about Florida Congressman
Charlie Crist was published. The Wayback Machine did not respond to an
inquiry regarding the removal of Reid’s blog.

Reid’s statement to Mediaite claims that these allegedly hacked posts
do “not represent the original entries” on her site:

“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.

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.”

It is worth noting, however, that Reid does admit these posts came from
her blog — rather than alleging they are doctored images posted to
Twitter — with the caveat that they were added by nefarious hackers
after she had the site shut down. It’s unclear when the nefarious
hackers would have hacked her site and added the controversial content,
since it has been defunct for years and still is. More importantly, NBC
could or would not specify exactly which posts Reid is claiming were
doctored.

In one of these newly found Reid Report articles, the author defends
former NBA star Tim Hardaway’s aggressively anti-gay comments by saying
“most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing”:

“Keeping it real … most straight men feel exactly the same
way, and would have the exact same reaction to the idea of
stripping naked in a sweaty locker room in close quarters
with a gay teammate. Most straight people cringe at the sight
of two men kissing… Most straight people had a hard time
being convinced to watch ‘Broke Back Mountain.’ (I admit
that I couldn’t go see the movie either, despite my sister’s
ringing endorsement, because I didn’t want to watch the two
male characters having sex.) Does that make me homophobic?
Probably.”

The author continued by saying a part of “straightness” is viewing
“homosexual sex” as “gross,” but added that “the nature of political
correctness” means straight people can’t say that publicly like
Hardaway did.

In a similar post, the author defended Marine General Peter Pace after
he condemned “homosexual acts” as “immoral” by suggesting his views are
actually normal.

“Some people use the [word] ‘immoral’ when they really mean
‘distasteful’ — I think a lot of heterosexuals, especially men, find
the idea of homosexual sex to be … well … gross, and they lump it in
with immorality,” wrote the author in a post dated to 2007. “And then
there are the concerns that adult gay men tend to be attracted to very
young, post-pubescent types, bringing them ‘into the lifestyle’ in a
way that many people consider to be immoral.”

The author continued by using the same argument that conservatives
deploy against transgender activists today: “Ditto with gay rights
groups that seek to organize very young, impressionable teens who may
have an inclination that they are gay.”

The author also casually wrote about the idea of manipulating genes to
ensure that children would “not be gay.” The procedure was not
explicitly condoned, but was instead presented as an “interesting moral
question.”

A 2006 Reid Report post included a compilation of the top five “totally
not gay celebrities of the year,” which was a satirical attempt —
albeit, a lazy one — at suggesting everyone on the list was secretly
gay. Singer Clay Aiken and CNN pundit Anderson Cooper both made the
list, which — if the publishing date is correct — was posted years
before they had come-out publicly.

In another post dated to 2005, the author said Cooper is the “gayest
thing on TV” and noted that they have it “on good authority that Cooper
is totally gay.” He didn’t come out publicly until 2012.

Other mentions on the list included the stars of Brokeback Mountain,
the previously noted film that the author didn’t see because “two male
characters having sex” was “too out there.”

The author also repeatedly advocated against gay marriage on the site
by criticizing liberals deemed too far left on the issue. Cable news
host Rachel Maddow, who is openly gay and now works with Reid at MSNBC,
was a recurring target in these Reid Report posts.

“[Rick] Warren’s views on gays are out of the mainstream. Perhaps
Rachel Maddow… and those at the left-most end of political spectrum
wish it were so, but it is not,” the author wrote in a post arguing
against Democrats who were pushing for gay marriage to be part of the
party’s platform.

The author cited, in different post, a “terrific” article from Bob
Ostertag — described as a “pretty out there gay man” — in which he
said, “How is that queers became the odd ones out at such a momentous
turning point in history? By pushing an agenda of stupid issues like
gay marriage.”

These advocacy posts lined-up with the author’s own views, as one post
states “I’m not even in favor of gay marriage” and a second adds “I’m
not a gay marriage proponent.”

Another article voiced disdain toward activists who wanted a Supreme
Court ruling on gay marriage, which was the vehicle ultimately used to
push the measure into law.

“Why are interest groups on the left and right flogging the justices of
the peace over gay marriage?” The author asked, before suggesting they
should instead focus on learning if Supreme Court justices support
“private property” rights.

Other comments include making gay jokes about dozens of figures in
politics, media, and entertainment. The following list includes the
names of people the author either accused of being gay — satirically or
not — or made a gay joke about, aside from the previously mentioned
Aiken and Cooper:

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and his son, conservative
pundit Michelle Malkin’s son, Republican consultant Karl Rove,
actor Tom Cruise, singer Rob Thomas, Fox News host Sean
Hannity, disgraced ex-lawmaker Mark Foley, late actor Heath
Ledger, former vice president Dick Cheney, former president
George W. Bush, talk show icon Oprah Winfrey, news personality
Gayle King, Senator John McCain, boxer Laila Ali, artist Queen
Latifah, former White House counsel Harriet Miers, comedian
Eddie Murphy, Congressman Charlie Crist, actor Jake Gyllenhaal,
former TV host Keith Olbermann, lawmaker-turned-CNN pundit
Rick Santorum, and Mediaite‘s own Dan Abrams.

The author even lobbed a gay joke at Reid’s now-MSNBC colleague Chris
Matthews, who was accused of “loving” Bush in the same sexual way Saudi
Prince Abdullah was accused of loving the former president.

As for the posts reported in December that Mediaite can confirm Reid
wrote, the AM Joy host said her gay jokes about former Republican
Charlie Crist were intended to highlight the GOP’s hypocrisy on the
issue, as she suggested Crist himself was gay while opposing gay
marriage.

In her December statement, she apologized to Crist, who is not actually
gay, and admitted her comments were “insensitive, tone deaf and dumb.”

“I deeply apologize to Congressman Crist, who was the target of my
thoughtlessness,” Reid said. “My critique of anti-LGBT positions he
once held but has since abandoned was legitimate in my view. My means
of critiquing were not.”

She continued by admitting she is “disappointed” and apologized “to
those who also are disappointed in me.”

“Life can be humbling. It often is. But I hope that you know where my
heart is, and that I will always strive to use my words for good. I
know better and I will do better,” Reid concluded.

Other controversial comments Reid has made on LGBTQ issues include the
pundit’s 2017 tweetstorm against the supposedly “volatile & vulnerable”
whistleblower Chelsea Manning — a tirade that many deemed transphobic.

--
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.

[Lance]

Good god, come on Joy. Really? Just admit that you said those awful things and
explain why you said them at the time. Then explain (if your opinion has
changed over time) why you believe something different NOW. How hard is that?
It's not rocket science. Some people have this amazing ability to WORK AGAINST
THERE OWN BEST INTEREST! All this drama, just to avoid the momentary
embarrassment by simply admitting she said something homophobic in the past?
That is so stupid. Now she's turned a tiny ant hill sized story, into Mount
Everest. Good work Joy! She made the worst mistake that you can possibly make
in the modern world that we now live in...she actually though she could lie
about past controversial statements that she posted ON THE INTERNET. Oh Joy,
didn't anyone ever tell you...The internet NEVER FORGETS!!!

[NoBody]

On Mon, 23 Apr 2018 07:15:18 -0400, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net>
wrote:

>
>Mediaite has obtained a series of homophobic posts from Joy Ann Reid’s
>old blog that she denies were actually written by her.
>
>In an exclusive statement to Mediaite, the MSNBC host claims these
>posts from The Reid Report — which include defending homophobia, gay
>jokes, and the outright mocking of gay people and homosexuality — were
>somehow put in by an “external party” that “manipulated material from
>my now-defunct blog.”
>
>While Reid apologized in December for writing homophobic content on a
>blog she ran long before her days as an icon of the #Resistance
>movement, she claims these new posts opposing gay marriage and cringing
>“at the sight of two men kissing” were part of a “fabricated” outside
>effort to paint her as “offensive and hateful.”

She's just doing the same thing all libs do when caught in hypocrisy -
lie.

[Ubiquitous]

Or claim it was "a joke" or "taken out of context"?
The latter being unintentionally ironic.