Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews returned to TV this week to address the controversies that prompted his abrupt retirement more than a year ago.
The longtime liberal commentator made appearances Tuesday and Wednesday on MSNBC and ABC’s The View, respectively, to discuss his upcoming memoir and the current political climate. Still, both conversations quickly turned to the past.
“I did something wrong. So, I’m going to move on from that,” Matthews said on Tuesday evening on the MSNBC show hosted by Joy-Ann Reid, who took over his time slot. “I took ownership of it, using a nice modern phrase. I took complete ownership of it. I don’t deny it. I lost my show over it. That’s it.”
In both interviews, Matthews gave much of the same response: accepting full responsibility for his actions and echoing his prior sentiments that he made the right decision to retire.
MSNBC’S CHRIS MATTHEWS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AND APOLOGIZES AMID SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS
“I made a couple of comments what we might’ve called in the old days ‘compliments’ but are not taken as compliments today by any means. I honed up to it, I took ownership of it, I never challenged,” he said on The View. “I just said it all was true, and I retired. And that was the decision I made.”
The discussion on Wednesday got tense, as co-host Joy Behar grilled him on allegations of “sexist” comments she claimed he made about Hillary Clinton, saying he described the former secretary of state and failed presidential candidate as “she-devil,” “Nurse Ratched,” and “witchy.”
Matthews outright denied these claims, insisting the comments were taken out of context.
Matthews, 75, made the surprise retirement announcement on-air in March 2020 as he faced criticism for alleged inappropriate comments he made about female colleagues and network guests. Journalist Laura Basset publicly said Matthews made her uncomfortable when he flirted with her while she sat in the makeup chair before an appearance on his show, telling the makeup artist, “Keep putting makeup on her, I’ll fall in love with her.” The host was also facing heat for statements he made about Sen. Bernie Sanders and black lawmakers.
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His departure from the network shocked many, including several of his fellow hosts. As a result, Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski questioned the #MeToo movement.
“As a woman, I just, I want to say this: I loved working with Chris Matthews. I really enjoyed being his colleague,” she said. “And I really, I understand the important changes around this so-called cancel culture. They’re important. They’re hard. They’re painful. And in many cases, they are necessary. I do wonder, at this point, though, as we move forward and we look at this and what happened here, if there might be a better way for all of us in the future where we work through this and get to a better place.”
Still, Matthews said the allegations of harassment were “highly justified.”
