MSNBC Slammed for Putting Chris Matthews Back On-Air After Sexual Harassment Claims

[Celerity]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/msnbc-slammed-for-putting-chris-matthews-back-on-air-after-harassment-claims



MSNBC got a bag of mixed messages from its viewers after it put a disgraced talk show host back in the hot seat. A Thursday episode of Morning Joe had former network talent Chris Matthews on to talk about Donald Trump’s future amid a series of lawsuits and investigations.

“The president’s ice cream cone is melting,” Matthews insisted. But viewers weren’t so happy to see the familiar face, who was let go on account of sexual harassment allegations, with one critic tweeting, “Why the rehabilitation tour for someone aptly let go for their terrible actions?”

Others, meanwhile, were happy that the 76-year-old had returned to their TV sets, with some mentioning that everyone deserves a “second chance.” Matthews retired from the network in 2020 after columnist Laura Bassett wrote a GQ exposé on the 23-year Hardball host, calling him out for making “objectifying and belittling comments” toward her and other female guests.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. Retired? I thought he walked off the set.

[dchill]

2. Chris Matthews. Nope.

[viva la]

3. Well, I object to him calling Trump "the president"

Matthews hasn't ever said anything insightful that I've ever heard.

However, I do like the melting ice cream cone image.

[CatWoman]

4. he was trending on Twitter earlier today

now I see why........

[Walleye]

5. He has done his time in exile if he doesn't repeat the behavior

[whathehell]

22. I agree...I'm a feminist, but I didn't like way he was treated

AFAIK, he touched no one, and saying "You look nice in that dress" or some such is NOT sexual harassment.

[hatrack]

6. . . .

[Heather MC]

9. You think sexually harassing women is a sensitivity problem of the victims?

Please clarify, Tell us how women should just get over it🙄

[walkingman]

13. I did not say that - I really don't know anything about Matthews or his reputation. It was

just a general observation. It is never OK to sexually harass anyone male or female but of late it seems to me that people are coming out of the woodwork to claim "victim"? I think the ME TOO movement was way overdue but there have been a lot of weird claims in the last few years.

[Heather MC]

16. I see, I will say this I believe Al Franken was Railroaded

It is dangerous to make that claim that women are making false claims.

2% of Rape allegations are found to be false

therefore 98% happened.

Statistically speaking most VICTIMS ARE TELLING THE TRUTH🤷🏾?♀️

[jcgoldie]

25. Its not that there's "a lot of weird claims in the last few years"

Its that there was a whole fucking lot of sexual harassment going on for a very long time before anyone was willing to pay attention.

[Celerity]

12. Laura Bassett Accuses MSNBC Host Chris Matthews of Sexually Harassing Her in 2016

Bassett claimed that while she was getting her makeup applied for TV, Matthews made inappropriately sexual remarks about her.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/laura-bassett-accuses-msnbc-host-chris-matthews-of-sexually-harassing-her-in-2016

Days after MSNBC host Chris Matthews came under fire for his sexist run-in with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), columnist Laura Bassett claimed in a piece for GQ that the veteran MSNBC personality sexually harassed her in 2016—something she had previously written about in 2017 without revealing Matthews’ name. According to Bassett, the married MSNBC host approached her when she was in a make-up chair prior to appearing on his show to talk about—ironically enough—the sexual-assault allegations made against then-nominee Donald Trump.

Bassett claimed that while she was getting her makeup applied, Matthews looked her over and asked, “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?” Bassett writes that the remark caused her to nervously laugh. Matthews, meanwhile, continued to comment, telling the makeup artist to keep “putting makeup on” Bassett as he’d “fall in love with her.” The columnist also recalled how another instance in which Matthews stepped between her and a mirror and asked of her attire, “You going out tonight?” After she replied that she didn’t know, Matthews once again spoke to the makeup artist and made the following request: “Make sure you wipe this off her face after the show. We don’t make her up so some guy at a bar can look at her like this.”

Elsewhere in her GQ piece, Bassett claimed an unnamed cable news pundit told her about her own run-in with Matthews. The pundit said she was invited on Matthews’ show to talk about misogyny in the GOP, and that the MSNBC host explained that he was going to draw comparisons between the culture depicted in Mad Men and the Republican Party. Right before going on-air for the segment—which, again, was about feminism and misogynist attitudes—Matthews allegedly referenced the curvy Mad Men character Joan and asked the pundit if she thought her “proportions are real.” The pundit told Bassett she was “shaken.”

Earlier this week, following Matthews’ much-criticized confrontation with Warren in which he badgered her on why she believed a female accuser over a man, the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet called on MSNBC to fire Matthews over the interview. “MSNBC needs to fire Chris Matthews. Today,” UltraViolet president Shaunna Thomas said in the statement. “Matthews’ refusal to believe women, and history of sexual harassment, make it clear that he is not fit to continue to cover this election. MSNBC can and must do better, and they can start by firing Chris Matthews.”

snip

[walkingman]

14. OK - understand. I should have just kept my mouth shut.

[Sky Jewels]

15. Gee, what a surprise, you're a male.

Ask any woman in your life about their experiences with being harassed, grabbed, groped, followed, chased, raped, repeatedly talked over, humiliated publicly, commanded to "smile," etc. by men. Most of them will have at least a few anecdotes. I can think of several friends who have been violently sexually assaulted. This crap happens all the time, and it's not "just a few bad apples" doing it, because it's so common. Millions of men still feel free to treat women and girls like shit.

[Heather MC]

20. Careful who you defend🤷🏾‍♀️. Chris Matthews ain't worth it

https://www.thewrap.com/chris-matthews-sexual-harassment-accusation-justified/

[MrsCoffee]

21. I hate reading shit like this here.

Do better.

[Heather MC]

23. IKR🤦🏾‍♀️

[Heather MC]

8. Nope Mathews Doesn't deserve a "second chance" He is grown azz man

Who reported on plenty of men getting in trouble for that decades.

And yet he felt like he was the special one that wouldn't get caught

Fuck Him🤷🏾?♀️🤷🏾?♀️🤷🏾?♀️

[Raine]

10. Seems like he had been having a mental meltdown for days

before they finally let him go. I hope before he makes a comeback he gets help or at least lots of rest.

[Sky Jewels]

11. Ugh. I'm so bloody sick of The Interrupter.

It was painful to watch him butcher every interview by stomping all over the words of his "guests" and not let them complete one thought. I can't believe he was on the air for as long as he was. Creepy Tweety needs to slink off and never return.

[Tomconroy]

17. Happy to see Chris.

[Brainfodder]

18. More podcast friendly guest?

Then again, Rudy was even on a singing show?

[BlueLucy]

19. Some people who grew up in the old times never learn or evolve and others do. nt

[Paladin]

24. Matthews needs to go home and keep counting his money.

The last thing MSNBC needs is his return.

[BlueIdaho]

26. Too soon...

They should try again in about a hundred years…

[bullwinkle428]

27. Someone decided to make a last-minute run to the misogynist store, after

Joe apparently made the choice to take the rest of the week off following he & Mika's "emcee" work at the Queen's funeral on Monday.

[Celerity]

28. he has Covid

Joe apparently made the choice to take the rest of the week off following he & Mika's "emcee" work at the Queen's funeral on Monday.