Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart said he was “hurt” when allegations of homophobic slurs from his friend, MSNBC host Joy Reid, recently surfaced.
“Joy when this happened, I was hurt. But not by anything that was attributed to you,” Capehart, a regular contributor on MSNBC, said during a defense of Reid on a panel on her show “AM Joy.”
“I was hurt because the Joy I know and have known for probably more than 10 years certainly before all of this stuff, is not the Joy that I know,” he said. “The Joy that I know is someone who stands by me personally. Stands by me and my husband. Stands by me and my community.”
Capehart defended Reid and said the apology in her opening monologue was putting “into context where society was.” He suggested Reid was an example of changing times and evolving opinions on LGBT issues.
“This is about people who are impacted by the words that are being attributed to you and I think it was incredibly important for us to remember that people change. Times change. And there are a lot of people sitting out there watching that might be tuning in because it’s like the coliseum for them and they want to see you eviscerated,” he said.
Reid has face intense scrutiny in recent days due to homophobic comments recently found on her old and now-defunct personal blog. She has repeatedly denied that the anti-gay posts were hers and claimed she was hacked. However, in the wake of the controversy, Reid apologized for other hateful comments of her that have resurfaced, including about conservative commentator Ann Coulter.
