The bizarre and controversial history of MSNBC host Joy Reid continued its relentless drip, drip, drip Thursday as Fox News uncovered her disturbing tenure at a South Florida radio station. Among the allegations from two of her former colleagues was a story of how she threatened violence against one of them and a homophobic shot at then-Governor Charlie Crist.
“MSNBC star Joy Reid physically threatened a senior colleague, accused a Republican politician of being gay on air and often referred to her hateful blog during a short-lived stint as a radio show co-host more than a decade ago, former superiors at the station told Fox News,” reported Fox News’ Lukas Mikelionis.
Fox News spoke with Andre Eggelletion, Reid’s former co-host of “Wake Up South Florida,” and he recalled how she allegedly threatened to assault him. “It was a very unhealthy work environment because of her attitude. She attacked me on a constant basis while I was there. I was even once threatened with physical violence during a break with her,” he told Fox News.
According to the report, Reid and Eggelletion were arguing over something he wanted to cover on the show when she did not. “There was a dispute over it and I told her, ‘Go ahead and call the manager’,” he recalled. And by his recollection, Reid allegedly responded with: “If you ever speak to me like that again I’m coming over there and it’s gonna be me and you.”
Mikelionis corroborated the account with Lee Michaels the then-national program director for the network of stations Reid’s was a part of. Michaels told Fox News that he had to talk Eggelletion out of quitting because working with her was so miserable.
While Reid has claimed she doesn’t remember writing her past homophobic blog posts, even suggesting a hacker planted them before saying her views evolved, both Eggelletion and Michaels said they could vouch that she did hold such views while working at the station.
“She did call Charlie Crist ‘Miss Charlie’ on the air,” Eggelletion remembered. “Her demeanor inside the radio station complemented what was on the blog. Mean-spirited, very edgy, negative personality in her writing,” Michaels explained. This actually matches how she runs her MSNBC weekend show AM Joy.
Throughout the previous revelations from Reid’s past, MSNBC had stuck by her. First by ignoring them all together then recently issuing a statement of support when things looked bleak. But judging by the report by Fox News, it seemed as though the liberal network was getting more involved in pushing back against such claims.
“But following Fox News’ contact with the channel, a number of other former colleagues at the radio station put out statements vouching for Reid’s professional conduct,” Mikelionis reported. One person who reached out to him co-hosted another show with Reid in 2006 and tried to call the credibility of Eggelletion and Michaels into question. “When asked for any specific examples, Grant indicated that she wasn’t actually aware who the individuals were, and instead asked Fox News for their names.”
Mikelionis also noted that he received an “unsolicited statement” from someone named WanJira Banfield sticking up for Reid. Banfield had career connections to MSNBC and “didn’t respond to an email asking what prompted her to contact Fox News.” Truly disturbing.
