MSNBC Host Joy Reid’s Daily Beast Column Suspended As FBI Investigates Homophobic Posts On Her Blog – Update
Updated with Daily Beast column suspension: The Daily Beast suspended Joy Reid’s column as its cybersecurity and media reporters investigate Reid’s claims she is victim of a cyberattack in which dozens of homophobic statements were added into the archive of her old blog.
Daily Beast Executive Editor Noah Shachtman informed staff in a memo of the internal investigation of a blog she wrote a decade ago.
“In the meantime, we’re going to hit pause on Reid’s columns” he said, until the two reporters probe “has run its course,” Shachtman wrote.
“We’ve all said and done things in our lives that we wish we hadn’t done,” he told staff. “We deserve the room to grow beyond our past. But these allegations are serious enough that they deserve a full examination.”
Previous: The FBI is investigating homophobic posts published on The Reid Report, the now-defunct blog site of MSNBC host Joy Reid. On Wednesday, Reid’s lawyer said that an FBI investigation has been launched to probe for potential criminal activity on her site, which Reid says was hacked.
Reid claims that posts were written to make her appear homophobic. “We have received confirmation the FBI has opened an investigation into potential criminal activities surrounding several online accounts, including personal email and blog accounts, belonging to Joy-Ann Reid,” said her lawyer John H. Reichman in a statement. “Our own investigation and monitoring of the situation will continue in parallel, and we are cooperating with law enforcement as their investigation proceeds.”
The homophobic blog posts in question, which came to light in to December, speculated that Republican governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, was a closeted gay man and married a woman as a coverup. The blog also included posts degrading lesbians, condemning gay sex, promoting offensive gay stereotypes and how Reid couldn’t watch Brokeback Mountain.
Reid since has apologized for the Crist speculation, saying that she regretted “the way I addressed the complex issue of the closet and speculation on a person’s sexual orientation with a mocking tone and sarcasm.”
Related stories
Bill Cosby Guilty Verdict Washes Over TV Landcape
In MSNBC Interview, Joe Biden Does Not Rule Out 2020 Presidential Run
'Morning Joe's Donald Trump Twitter Bingo Off To Slow Start
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
