Joy Reid’s tweets about ‘rentboys’ and re-emerge

Joy Ann Reid’s eight-year-old tweets about ‘rentboys’ and ‘grimey closet-cases’ have resurfaced just days after the MSNBC host tried to deny writing homophobic blog comments appearing under her name.

Reid claimed that she’d been hacked after images from her blog, titled The Reid Report, were tweeted out this week, which appeared to show her calling the idea of homosexual sex ‘gross’ and gleefully speculating over the sexuality of politicians and celebrities.

The MSNBC host said the anti-gay references ‘run counter to my personal beliefs and ideology’ and had been included in the now-defunct blog in an ‘effort to taint my character’.

But a long scroll through the 49-year-old’s Twitter account turns up a number of tweets which appear to reflect the homophobic comments made on the blog.

Joy Reid’s eight-year-old tweets about ‘rentboys’ and ‘grimey closet-cases’ have resurfaced just days after the MSNBC host denied writing homophobic blog comments appearing under her name

In one tweet, she refers to Southern Baptist minister George Rekers, who was famously caught with a male prostitute, as a ‘rentboy’. 

Tweeting: ‘George ‘Rentboy’ Rekers resigns is still not gay.’

She seems to have made a pastime of musing about the sexuality of celebrities. And she saved some of her harshest judgement for Rush Limbaugh over his wedding.

‘Rush Limbaugh’s fourth marriage offers a hopeful message for fat, grimey closet-cases everywhere. Get rich. (Karl Rover, you’re on deck!)’ he said. 

In another tweet he added: ‘Report: Elton John, Who Is Gay, To Perform At Rush Limbaugh’s Wedding. 

‘Elton to serenade the beard.’

Another tweet took a swipe at Sen Lindsay Graham, after he denied he was gay, writing: ‘Respect the highvoice!’

DailyMail.com has reached out to MSNBC and Reid for comment.

The re-emerged tweets, which are still live on Reid’s account, have raised questions over her denial about the comments on her blog. 

‘Joy Ann Reid says the screenshots of homophobic posts on her blog were fabricated. Was she also hacked by whoever made these homophobic and anti-sex worker tweets eight years ago?’ one Twitter user asked.

One user joked: ‘Tomorrow: “The hackers have a time machine.”‘

‘Look, we all had a pre-woke period. I would cringe if I was confronted with some of the dumb shit I said in High School, and Joy was barely 41 years old when she made these tweets. But how are you gonna have any credibility as a journalist if you lie about things you’ve said?’ another added.

The initial scandal emerged after images from her defunct blog, which Reid maintained through 2011, appeared on the Wayback Machine Internet Archive and were screenshot and shared on Twitter by Jamie Maz

Prior to these new images emerging on Wednesday, which the Twitter use called ‘far worse than first reported,’ Reid already apologized for homophobic commentary on the blog in question, in a Facebook post dated December 3.

But in an statement provide to Mediaite on Monday, Reid has claimed these new images do ‘not represent the original entries’ from her blog and were instead posted to her old site by a hacker, though it’s not clear when she thinks that happened.

DailyMail.com reached out to Wayback Machine to verify the authenticity of the screenshots, which Reid has not disputed, but has not yet received a reply.

A Twitter user known as Jamie Maz captured what the user has said are screenshots of the blog

A Twitter user known as Jamie Maz captured what the user has said are screenshots of the blog

The Twitter user who posted the images claimed to be from Reid’s blog said the new articles ‘had nothing to do with Republican hypocrisy on gay marriage. Joy also opposed gay marriage at the time. She gleefully accused people of being gay and posted a number of questionable things.’    

One example allegedly posted in defense of Tim Hardaway’s accused homophobia reads: ‘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.’

The post continued: ‘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 tweet immediately following that post includes the following language, attributed to Reid:

‘Part of the intrinsic nature of straightness is that homosexual sex is… well… gross,’ adding that the author was sure gay people thought straight sex was gross, too.

Reid was criticized with pictures of the alleged posts for 'outing people for clicks'

Reid was criticized with pictures of the alleged posts for ‘outing people for clicks’

Reid did not say the images included with the tweets were photo-shopped, but instead claimed that a hacker gained access to her former blog at some point, posting material that she did not create to the site

Reid did not say the images included with the tweets were photo-shopped, but instead claimed that a hacker gained access to her former blog at some point, posting material that she did not create to the site

The Twitter user acknowledged in one tweet that over ‘the last few months the site was removed from the Wayback Machine Internet Archive,’ speculating the removal was done ‘at the request of whoever controls the blog.’ 

‘These screenshots were taken before it came down,’ the user added, without explaining the delay in posting the images.

Reid did not say the images included with the tweets were photo-shopped, but instead claimed that a hacker gained access to her former blog at some point, posting material that she did not create to the site.  

One 'screenshot' reads: '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'

One ‘screenshot’ reads: ‘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’

Reid is accused of writing: 'Part of the intrinsic nature of straightness is that homosexual sex is... well... gross,' adding that the author was sure gay people thought straight sex was gross

Reid is accused of writing: ‘Part of the intrinsic nature of straightness is that homosexual sex is… well… gross,’ adding that the author was sure gay people thought straight sex was gross

Images of the blog, titled The Reid Report, which Reid maintained through 2011, have since been removed from Wayback Machine Internet Archive

Images of the blog, titled The Reid Report, which Reid maintained through 2011, have since been removed from Wayback Machine Internet Archive

‘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,’ Reid told Mediate.

‘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.’

Reid did not note which articles from the blog had been altered, and which, if any, were legitimately authored by her.

Reid did not note which articles from the blog had been altered, and which, if any, were legitimately authored by her.

Previously, in December, she apologized for posts that came to light through the same internet archive website that these new images are claimed to have been captured from

Previously, in December, she apologized for posts that came to light through the same internet archive website that these new images are claimed to have been captured from

Reid is seen here attending Variety's Power of Women: New York at Cipriani Wall Street on April 13 in New York City

Reid is seen here attending Variety’s Power of Women: New York at Cipriani Wall Street on April 13 in New York City

Reid did not note which articles from the blog had been altered, and which, if any, were legitimately authored by her.

Previously, in December, she apologized for posts that came to light through the same internet archive website that these new images are claimed to have been captured from.   

After the same Twitter user tweeted a series of posts citing homophobic work authored by the MSNBC host about former Florida governor Charlie Crist from 2007 to 2009, Reid shared her apology.  

‘From 2007 to 2009 @joyannreid authored a dozen homophobic posts not only attempting to out Charlie Crist as gay, she attacked & mocked him for being so,’ @Jamie_Maz said in the first tweet thread.

‘She repeatedly referred to him as ‘Miss Charlie’ and tagged posts about him under ‘gay politicians.”    

Crist was Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011. He was infamously known for having supported a state constitutional amendment ban on same-sex marriage in 2008.

But in a 2013 interview with Watermark Online, an online LGBT publication in Orlando, he said: ‘I’m sorry I did that. It was a mistake. I was wrong. Please forgive me.’

When asked why he did it, the former governor claimed that he was trying to be a ‘good Republican’ until it became harder for him to ‘toe the Republican party line’ since his views on social issues differed from the norm.’ 

In her apology from December, Reid addressed how she treated Crist in her blog.

‘This note is my apology to all who are disappointed by the content of blogs I wrote a decade ago, for which my choice of words and tone have legitimately been criticized,’ Reid said in her December post. 

The user  shared the first images on November 30, along with an equally blistering critique of the media personality. 

In December, when Reid tweeted her apology, Charlie Crist responded and accepted

In December, when Reid tweeted her apology, Charlie Crist responded and accepted

Reid: 'Thank you congressman. Truly. And here's wishing you a wonderful holiday season'

Reid: ‘Thank you congressman. Truly. And here’s wishing you a wonderful holiday season’

Reid mentioned in her apology that she prided herself on the ‘facility with language’ and admitting that was not always the case, especially highlighting the time she worked in Florida covering politics up until 2011.

She added: ‘Among the frequent subjects of my posts was then-governor Charlie Crist, at the time a conservative Republican, whose positions on issues like gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples in Florida shared headlines with widely rumored reports that he was hiding his sexual orientation.’ 

‘Let me be clear: at no time have I intentionally sought to demean or harm the LGBT community, which includes people whom I deeply love,’ she said.

‘My goal, in my ham-handed way, was to call out potential hypocrisy.’

Reid continued by saying that she regretted the way she addressed the issue and felt the ‘mocking tone and sarcasm’ used were ‘insensitive, tone deaf and dumb.’

She added: ‘There is no excusing it – not based on the taste-skewing mores of talk radio or the then-blogosphere, and not based on my intentions.’  

Also in December, when Reid tweeted her apology, Crist responded and accepted.

‘Long forgotten, but thank you, Joy. I appreciate you,’ he said at the time.

Reid then replied: ‘Thank you congressman. Truly. And here’s wishing you a wonderful holiday season.’ 

Reid currently hosts a show on MSNBC called AMJoy. She previously hosted a show on the same network titled The Reid Report, which was the title of her blog. 

The full text of Reid’s apology from December is included below. 

The full text of Reid's apology from December is shown here, via a Facebook post

The full text of Reid’s apology from December is shown here, via a Facebook post

She wrote in her Facebook post from December 3:  

‘This note is my apology to all who are disappointed by the content of blogs I wrote a decade ago, for which my choice of words and tone have legitimately been criticized.

‘As a writer, I pride myself on a facility with language — an economy of words or at least some wisdom in the selection. However, that clearly has not always been the case.

‘In 2007 I was a morning talk radio host and blogger, writing about Florida politics (a blog I maintained until 2011.) Among the frequent subjects of my posts was then-governor Charlie Crist, at the time a conservative Republican, whose positions on issues like gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples in Florida shared headlines with widely rumored reports that he was hiding his sexual orientation. Those reports were the subject of lots of scrutiny: by LGBTQ bloggers, writers and journalists, conservative blogs, a controversial documentary film called “Outrage,” and even by the comedic writers at South Park. But it was my own attempt at challenging Crist on my blog that has now raised the issue of not just my choice of words, but what was and is in my heart.

‘Let me be clear: at no time have I intentionally sought to demean or harm the LGBT community, which includes people whom I deeply love. My goal, in my ham-handed way, was to call out potential hypocrisy.

‘Nonetheless, as someone who is not a member of the LGBT community, I regret the way I addressed the complex issue of the closet and speculation on a person’s sexual orientation with a mocking tone and sarcasm. It was insensitive, tone deaf and dumb. There is no excusing it – not based on the taste-skewing mores of talk radio or the then-blogosphere, and not based on my intentions.

‘In addition to friends and coworkers and viewers, I deeply apologize to Congressman Crist, who was the target of my thoughtlessness. My critique of anti-LGBT positions he once held but has since abandoned was legitimate in my view. My means of critiquing were not.

‘In the years since I went from blogger to opinion journalist, I have also learned, through brilliant friends and allies in the LGBT activist community, how to better frame my critiques of those who challenge people’s right to love who they want, marry them, and walk in the world as fully free people.

‘Re-reading those old blog posts, I am disappointed in myself. I apologize 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.’

 



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