MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski have attempted to resurrect the career of political pundit Mark Halperin, who was fired in October 2017 due to allegations of sexual misconduct from women who worked with him at ABC News in the 1990s and 2000s.
According to the Daily Beast, Scarborough and Brzezinski attempted to launch an online-only program with Halperin examining the 2018 midterm elections with MSNBC. However, the network refused to advance the plans.
“Everybody was going, ‘WTF!’” an MSNBC insider told the Daily Beast about the project.
“All parties, including Mark, decided not to move forward with the midterm project for a variety of reasons … including concerns by management that the online broadcast would detract from MSNBC’s coverage.”
Additionally, the Daily Beast reported that MSNBC managers were “blindsided” when Brzezinski aired a segment on Halperin’s rehab that featured him discussing the “hundreds” of conversations he’s had with women on workplace sexual harassment and how he is learning more about how much his behavior “hurt” people.” Executives were not pleased that Brzezinski chose to air the clip.
Halperin, who regularly appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program when he was a political analyst for the network, told the Daily Beast that he was “deeply sorry” for his behavior.
“I am deeply sorry and hope to have a chance to apologize directly to those I treated badly. It is the right and necessary thing to do,” Halperin said in a statement. “I cannot imagine how difficult this experience has been for them. I hope this will be a further step in my continued efforts to fully comprehend and make amends for the pain that I have caused.”
MSNBC, Scarborough, and Brzezinski did not provide comment to the Daily Beast.
CNN first reported in October 2017 Halperin propositioned female employees for sex, groped them against their will, and rubbed his genitals against them, based on the accounts of four women. For example, one woman said that Halperin invited her to his office for a soda while he was political director at ABC News. While in his office, Halperin groped her and pressed his body against her.
“I went up to have a soda and talk and — he just kissed me and grabbed my boobs,” an anonymous woman told CNN. “I just froze. I didn’t know what to do.”
Other women came forward afterward and accused him of masturbating in front of them, among other things.
This isn’t the first time Brzezinski has stood up for Halperin. For example, when allegations first emerged against Halperin, Brzezinski said on the air that “nothing has been proven or adjudicated here.”
Shortly after Halperin was ousted, Brzezinski was forced to apologize after she griped on the air in December 2017 that none of the women who leveled accusations against him were willing to meet with him face to face.
