Hubbry Logo
Joy ReidJoy ReidMain
Open search
Joy Reid
Community hub
Joy Reid
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Joy Reid
Joy Reid
Joy Reid
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Joy-Ann M. Lomena-Reid (née Lomena; born December 8, 1968) is an American political commentator and television host.[3][4] She was a national correspondent for MSNBC[5] and is best known for hosting the political commentary program The ReidOut from 2020 to 2025. Her previous anchoring credits include The Reid Report (2014–2015) and AM Joy (2016–2020).[6]

Key Information

The New York Times described Reid as a "heroine" emerging from the political movements and protests against Donald Trump.[7] She has written three books: Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide (2016),[8][9] The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story (2019),[10] and Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America (2024).

Early life

[edit]

Reid was born Joy-Ann Lomena in Brooklyn, New York City.[11] Her father was from the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[7] and her mother a college professor and nutritionist from Guyana.[7] Her parents met in graduate school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.[11] Reid was raised Methodist and has one sister and one brother.[11] Her father was an engineer who was mostly absent from the family; her parents eventually divorced and her father returned to the Congo.[11] She was raised mostly in Denver, Colorado, until the age of 17, when her mother died of breast cancer[7] and she moved to Flatbush, Brooklyn, to live with an aunt.[11] Reid graduated from Harvard University in 1991 with a concentration in film studies.[12][13]

In a 2013 interview, Reid recalled that her college experience was a quick immersion into a demographically opposite place from where she lived, from a community that was eighty percent African American to a community that was six percent African American. She had to learn to live with roommates and people who were not her family. She paid her own bills and tuition while at Harvard and said it was a good learning and growing experience overall.[14]

Career

[edit]
Part of a series on
Progressivism
Movements
Ideas
Variants
Ideologies
Activists
Commentators
Intellectuals
Politicians
Literature
Organizations
Media
By region
Related
MSNBC Host Joy Reid on set during coverage of the 2016 Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY on September 26, 2016

Reid began her journalism career in 1997, leaving New York and her job at a business consulting firm to begin working in South Florida for a WSVN Channel 7 morning show.[15] She left journalism in 2003 to work with the group America Coming Together to oppose the Iraq War and President George W. Bush. She later returned to broadcasting as a talk radio host and worked on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[1]

From 2006 to 2007, Reid was the co-host of Wake Up South Florida, a morning radio talk show broadcast from Radio One's then-Miami affiliate WTPS, alongside "James T" Thomas.[7] She served as managing editor of The Grio[16] (2011–2014), a political columnist for Miami Herald (2003–2015), and the editor of The Reid Report political blog (2000–2014).[17]

Reid also teaches a Syracuse University class in Manhattan exploring race, gender, and the media.[7] She and her husband Jason co-founded Image Lab Media Group, a production company, in 2005.

MSNBC tenure

[edit]

From February 2014 to February 2015, Reid hosted her own MSNBC afternoon cable news show, The Reid Report.[18] The show was canceled[19] on February 19, 2015, and Reid was shifted to a new role as an MSNBC national correspondent.[20] Beginning in May 2016, Reid hosted AM Joy, a political weekend-morning talk show on MSNBC, and was a frequent substitute for other MSNBC hosts, including Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow. As of 2018, Reid's morning show on Saturdays averaged nearly one million weekly viewers.[7]

In 2017, Reid ranked fourth among Twitter's top tweeted news outlets and most tweeted journalist at each outlet.[21] The Daily Dot credited her in August of that year with coining the term KHive for supporters of Kamala Harris.[22]

In July 2020, MSNBC announced that Reid would host The ReidOut, a new Washington-based weeknight commentary show in the 7 p.m. Eastern time slot vacated by the March 2020 retirement of Hardball host Chris Matthews,[6] making her cable's first Black female primetime anchor.[23][24][25] On February 23, 2025, The New York Times reported that MSNBC had canceled The ReidOut, with plans to air its final episode during the week of February 24-28.[26][27] The final broadcast of The ReidOut would air on February 24, 2025.[28][29]

Post-MSNBC

[edit]

The day prior to New York Times' report of her ouster, Reid launched The Joy Reid Show as a channel on YouTube through Image Lab.[30]

Reception and honors

[edit]

In 2015, Reid gave the inaugural Ida B. Wells lecture at Wake Forest University's Anna Julia Cooper Center.[16] In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter said she had the "ability to break down complex issues in a way that makes them digestible and accessible."[31] In 2018, The New York Times stated that "Ms. Reid, the daughter of immigrants, has emerged as a 'heroine' of the anti-Trump 'resistance'."[7]

Reid was a 2003 Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellow.[32] In 2018, Reid was nominated for three NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards. One for her segment where a pastor is pulled to safety at the Charlottesville white nationalist march, for Reid's reporting on the damage caused by the hurricanes to the US Virgin Islands and lastly for the segment that won her an award Tragedy of 'Time: The Kalief Browder Story' where Reid sat down with Kalief's brother Deion Browder and filmmaker Julia Mason.[citation needed] In 2016, she received the Women's Media Center's Carol Jenkins Visible and Powerful Media Award.[33]

Controversies

[edit]

Deleted blog controversies

[edit]

In late 2017,[34] and again in April 2018, Twitter user @Jamie_maz[35] reproduced posts written between 2007 and 2009 on Reid's former blog Reid Report which, as The Nation described it, "us[ed] the trope of gay sex to mock politicians and journalists."[36] Following criticism, Reid apologized, calling the posts "insensitive, tone-deaf and dumb."[37] A second batch of posts gained attention, which described kissing between men as disgusting to straight people, accused gay men of being "attracted to very young, post-pubescent types", and declared opposition to same-sex marriage. In one post, Reid wrote about her views: "Does that make me homophobic? Probably."[38] Reid claimed she did not remember making those posts, and asked lawyers to investigate if her blog or its archives might have been hacked,[35] though the Wayback Machine, where the posts had been found, said it detected no evidence of hacking in the archived versions of her site.[35] The second batch of posts prompted LGBT advocacy group PFLAG to rescind its plan to give Reid an award,[39] and The Daily Beast to suspend future columns from her.[40][41] An analysis published by The Daily Beast thoroughly disputed her claims of being a victim of hacking.[41] Reid opened the April 28, 2018, edition of AM Joy with an apology.[42] Responses to her apology tended to be divided along party lines.[43]

In April 2018, further blog posts from 2005 through 2007 were brought to public attention. According to The Washington Post, Reid's controversial remarks included encouraging her readers to watch the "truther" conspiracy-theory film Loose Change and saying of Israel "God is not a real estate broker. He can't just give you land 1,000 years ago that you can come back and claim today."[44][45] Reid claimed Jewish people spend half a million dollars on their bar and bat mitzvah celebrations.[46] She also described CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who is Jewish, as a "former flak for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee [sic]" who "doesn't even try to hide his affinity for his Israeli guests, or his partisanship for their cause".[47] The Zionist Organization of America called for MSNBC to fire Reid for promoting "sinister anti-Semitic canards".[48] Another controversial post, from 2007, contained a photoshopped image of Senator John McCain's face superimposed on the body of Seung-Hui Cho, who perpetrated the Virginia Tech shooting.[49]

In June 2018, Reid formally apologized for her past writings, saying, "I'm a better person today than I was over a decade ago. There are things I deeply regret and am embarrassed by, things I would have said differently, and issues where my position has changed. Today I'm sincerely apologizing again."[50] MSNBC expressed its continued support, saying in a statement that some of the blog posts were "obviously hateful and hurtful," but that they were "not reflective of the colleague and friend we have known at MSNBC for the past seven years"[50] and that "Joy has apologized publicly and privately and said she has grown and evolved in the many years since, and we know this to be true."[44]

Other controversies

[edit]

On the September 1, 2020 episode of The ReidOut, Reid criticized President Donald Trump's unwillingness to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse. She held that this amounted to what US media would usually describe as "radicalizing people" in the case of "leaders, let's say in the Muslim world, talk a lot of violent talk and encourage their supporters to be willing to commit violence including on their own bodies in order to win against whoever they decide is the enemy".[51] The Southern Poverty Law Center and Muslim Advocates, both civil rights organizations, and representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib criticized Reid's remarks as Islamophobic and called for an apology.[51] Conversely, commentator Jennifer Rubin defended Reid, arguing she had merely highlighted a double standard in the media without endorsing it.[51]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1997, Reid married Jason Reid, who later became a documentary film editor.[2] The couple have three children.[11]

Works

[edit]
  • Reid, Joy-Ann (February 6, 2024). Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America. Mariner Books. ISBN 978-0-06-306879-7.[52][53][54][55][56]
  • Reid, Joy-Ann (June 25, 2019). The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story. Mariner Books. ISBN 978-0062880109.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Joy Reid

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia

Joy-Ann M. Lomena Reid (born December 8, 1968) is an American journalist, author, and political commentator who hosted the MSNBC prime-time program The ReidOut from 2020 until its cancellation in February 2025. Born in to immigrant parents from and the , Reid graduated from in 1991 with a concentration in film and later taught courses on race, gender, and media at and . Her career included local news reporting in , producing documentaries, and rising at MSNBC from national correspondent to weekend host of AM Joy before launching The ReidOut, which earned for outstanding news/information series in 2022 and 2025. Reid's commentary style emphasizes progressive critiques of American conservatism, frequently framing political events through lenses of race, identity, and systemic inequality, which has garnered loyal viewership among liberal audiences but criticism for hyper-partisanship and race-based rhetoric from conservative outlets. She has authored books such as : Barack , the Clintons, and the Racial Divide (2015), analyzing Democratic Party dynamics, and maintained an influential presence on and as a during major elections. A defining controversy emerged in 2018 when researchers uncovered posts from Reid's defunct early-2000s blog containing homophobic content, 9/11 conspiracy theories, anti-Israel remarks, and mockery of political figures, prompting her to initially claim the site was hacked before admitting the writings were hers and issuing apologies for the "pain" caused. MSNBC retained her amid the backlash, reflecting the network's tolerance for aligned ideological viewpoints despite the content's inconsistencies with contemporary progressive standards on issues like LGBTQ rights. Following The ReidOut's end, Reid has continued public commentary, including claims equating terms like "illegals" to racial slurs and linking restrictions on youth gender transitions to historical authoritarianism.

Early life and education

Family background and childhood

Joy-Ann Lomena Reid was born on December 8, 1968, in , New York, to parents who immigrated from and the : her father, an engineer from the , and her mother, a from who later worked as a professor. The couple met while studying at the in the United States. After her parents' marriage dissolved, Reid relocated with her mother and two siblings—sister and brother Oren Lomena—to , , where she spent much of her formative years in a single-parent household marked by economic pressures typical of immigrant families striving for stability. Her father returned to the Congo and had limited involvement thereafter, leaving her mother to raise the children primarily on her own while pursuing professional opportunities in nutrition and academia, including a position at the . The family adhered to Methodist traditions amid these transitions. Reid's early environment exposed her to the dynamics of cultural adaptation and resilience, as her mother's immigrant background instilled values of hard work and education despite financial strains and familial disruptions. Her mother succumbed to in 1985, when Reid was 17, prompting a return to to live with extended family.

Academic pursuits

Reid enrolled at intending to pursue a pre-med track, reflecting an initial interest in influenced by her science-oriented high school background. However, after her freshman year, she took a leave of absence, during which she worked in New York, before returning and switching her major to Visual and with a concentration in , citing a newfound passion for media production over clinical pursuits. This shift exposed her to liberal arts coursework emphasizing visual storytelling and cultural analysis, though specific student activities or thesis details remain undocumented in public records. She graduated in 1991 with a degree in this field, having extended her studies by a year due to the gap. Post-graduation, Reid briefly entered consulting in New York, a role that provided financial stability but highlighted her indecision about a career path, as she later described feeling unfulfilled in corporate analysis compared to creative or analytical media work. This interlude underscored an early pivot toward , aligning with her Harvard training in documentary techniques rather than sustained engagement.

Professional career

Entry into journalism

Reid began her journalism career in 1997 at age 29, relocating from New York—where she had worked at a business consulting firm—to to join Channel 7 in as a reporter and writer for the station's morning show. Initially earning $7.50 per hour, she covered local stories, contributing to the development of her reporting skills in a competitive market. From 2000 to 2004, Reid served as an online news editor for , the affiliate in , where she managed digital content and expanded her experience in multimedia news delivery amid the growing importance of internet-based reporting. Concurrently, she transitioned into radio, producing and hosting a talk show on Radio One's Miami affiliate WTPS, focusing on local issues and interviews that helped establish her voice in media circles. In 2004, Reid launched her personal blog, "The Reid Report," which combined news analysis with commentary on regional and national topics, marking an early foray into independent digital publishing that complemented her broadcast roles and built a modest online following. Through these positions, she covered politics and community events, gradually enhancing her regional profile before advancing to broader platforms.

MSNBC tenure and primetime hosting

Joy Reid joined MSNBC in 2011 as a national correspondent and contributor. In 2014, she launched The Reid Report, a weekday program airing in the 2 p.m. ET slot from February 24 to February 27, 2015, which was canceled due to insufficient ratings. Reid then shifted to weekend mornings, hosting AM Joy from May 7, 2016, to July 19, 2020, where she provided progressive analysis emphasizing topics such as racial inequality and . On July 20, 2020, Reid debuted The ReidOut in the 7 p.m. ET primetime slot, succeeding ' Hardball amid MSNBC's transition to more opinion-oriented programming. The show targeted a progressive audience with segments on race, justice, , rural America, and critiques of conservative policies, including frequent opposition to former President . The ReidOut achieved elevated viewership during the 2020 presidential election cycle, capitalizing on intense national interest in political events. Post-election, however, ratings for The ReidOut declined markedly, reflecting broader trends at MSNBC where audience engagement waned after periods of high-stakes coverage, such as the 2022 midterms. By early , average viewership had fallen to approximately 817,000 total viewers monthly, below network primetime averages, as the cable news landscape shifted further toward partisan commentary to retain core demographics.

2025 departure from MSNBC and subsequent ventures

In February 2025, MSNBC canceled The ReidOut, the primetime program hosted by Joy Reid since 2020, as part of a sweeping programming overhaul led by the network's new president, Rebecca Kutler. The decision was announced on February 23, 2025, with Reid's final episode airing during the week of February 24–28, marking the end of her five-year tenure in the 7 p.m. ET slot. Network executives framed the move within broader cost-cutting measures and strategic realignments following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which saw MSNBC grappling with audience retention challenges amid shifting viewer demographics and competition from digital platforms. Reid described the cancellation as abrupt, expressing emotional distress in subsequent interviews and bidding farewell to colleagues on air, emphasizing themes of resistance amid the network's changes. Following her MSNBC exit, Reid pivoted to independent media ventures, launching The Joy Reid Show as a video on June 9, 2025, distributed across and major platforms like and . The program airs three times weekly—on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays—focusing on unscripted analysis of , , and news, with initial episodes featuring guests such as comedian and Newark Mayor . This format allows Reid greater flexibility outside cable news constraints, enabling direct audience engagement through live fan interactions and a newsletter, Joy's House, where she publishes extended commentary and episode recaps. Reid's post-MSNBC projects target progressive and audiences via niche digital channels, positioning her as a voice unbound by network editorial oversight, though critics noted the ventures as an attempt to recapture viewers lost to fragmented . By October 2025, the had garnered initial episodes exceeding 900 subscribers on , with Reid conducting interviews critiquing Democratic strategies, including discussions on party infighting referenced in appearances like . These efforts reflect a broader industry trend of former cable hosts migrating to for monetization through subscriptions and sponsorships, amid MSNBC's viewership declines reported at over 50% in key demographics post-2024.

Political commentary and ideological positions

Promotion of identity politics and progressive narratives

Reid has consistently framed domestic policy debates, including practices, through the lens of systemic racial oppression, often attributing opposition to reforms to underlying racial animus rather than fiscal or procedural concerns. For instance, in a , 2021, broadcast, she argued that resistance to comprehensive stems from "white grievance politics" preventing the from evolving into a "multiracial ." Similarly, her commentary on policing has portrayed standard enforcement measures as extensions of racial control, emphasizing narratives of inherent bias over data on rates or officer accountability. In covering high-profile incidents like the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Reid applied an intersectional framework, highlighting not only racial injustice but also intersections with economic disparity and gender dynamics in , crediting the ensuing protests with catalyzing global awareness of "systemic" inequities. She described Floyd's killing as a pivotal event that "absolutely has changed the world," framing subsequent policy demands—such as defunding police or reallocating budgets—as essential responses to entrenched rather than alternatives to evidence-based crime reduction strategies. This approach aligns with progressive intersectional theory, prioritizing identity-based grievances over individualized causal analyses of events. Reid has advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as countermeasures to purported structural biases, critiquing merit-based systems as facades for demographic preferences. In February 2025, she posted that references to "meritocracy" by conservatives typically mean favoring "any random straight Christian white guy over any woman or person of color," regardless of qualifications. Following her MSNBC departure, she embraced DEI personally, stating in August 2025 that she benefited from affirmative action admissions and viewing opposition to such programs as risking an "aging, slowly dying" nation lacking diverse perspectives. Her alignment with progressive Democratic narratives often involves amplifying external threats to marginalized groups while minimizing intra-party critiques, as seen in her endorsements of figures like Barack Obama, whom she praised for advancing multiracial progressivism without dwelling on policy shortcomings such as the Affordable Care Act's implementation flaws or drone strike expansions. This selective emphasis reinforces identity-driven coalitions, portraying Democratic policies as inherently equitable bulwarks against regression.

Attacks on conservatism and specific figures

Reid has repeatedly characterized conservative policies and figures, particularly those associated with former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, as fascist. On November 5, 2024, during coverage of Florida's Amendment 4 on abortion rights, she described the state under DeSantis as having devolved into an "extremist right-wing, fascist type government," accusing him of using threats and state power to oppose the measure. Earlier, on October 9, 2024, she labeled DeSantis "America's meanest, most brazenly fascist and self-serving governor" in response to his decisions on voting rights extensions. She extended this rhetoric to Trump, warning on November 6, 2024, that his influence would bring fascism to Florida. In response to the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on Trump in , Reid questioned the incident's severity and authenticity. On July 18, 2024, she suggested Trump may not have been struck by a and implied the event could be staged, casting doubt without awaiting official investigations. This minimization contrasted with her prior emphasis on conservative as inciting , as she later blamed "MAGA Republicans" for broader threats while downplaying the attempt itself. Reid has framed the Republican Party as an existential threat to democracy, frequently citing the , 2021, Capitol riot as evidence without equivalent scrutiny of left-leaning unrest, such as 2020 riots following George Floyd's death. On August 13, 2024, she highlighted Trump's alleged plans to "steal" the 2024 election, positioning GOP actions as uniquely subversive. She has compared GOP figures like Representative to Confederate President , equating modern conservatism with historical secessionism. In August 2022, she accused of fostering a "white " through policies like restrictions on instruction. Reid often dismisses conservative critiques of and economic policies as coded appeals or "dog whistles" to , sidelining empirical such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection records showing over 2.4 million encounters at the southwest border in fiscal year 2023. In 2018, she described Trump's ads warning of crimes by undocumented individuals as "racist, fear-mongering" dog whistles, prioritizing narrative over incident statistics from sources like the Department of Justice. More recently, she has applied this framing to opposition against (DEI) initiatives, interpreting critiques as veiled racism akin to slurs, as in her April 2024 comments on Baltimore's bridge collapse response.

Controversies

Early blog posts and authenticity disputes

In April 2018, further archival posts from Joy Reid's early 2000s blog, The Reid Report, resurfaced via the Internet Archive's , exposing content that included homophobic mockery of the film —such as referring to it derisively in terms implying revulsion toward depicted same-sex relationships—and speculation outing Florida politician as gay, framing it with sarcasm about public figures' private lives. Additional entries promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories by questioning the official account of the attacks, suggested doubts about Israel's sovereignty, and featured an insulting manipulated photo of Senator portraying him in . Reid responded by denying authorship of the newly surfaced material, claiming it had been "manipulated" and inserted by "an unknown, external party" through hacking of her defunct WordPress site, a defense echoed in December 2017 for initial homophobic posts but escalated with her attorney's announcement of an FBI criminal probe into potential online tampering. However, Reid later conceded on April 28, 2018, that "no evidence" of such hacking had been uncovered despite investigations, and independent forensic scrutiny—including analysis by computer science professor Michael L. Nelson—revealed no signs of post-authorship alterations in Wayback captures, attributing apparent discrepancies to standard archival variances rather than deliberate insertion. A Daily Beast examination further refuted claims by cybersecurity consultant Rod Equip, who had alleged hacks, finding his cited anomalies unsubstantiated and inconsistent with Reid's own site's metadata. On June 1, 2018, Reid issued a statement apologizing "unconditionally" for the "pain" and "collateral damage" inflicted by the posts' content, particularly their homophobic elements, while reiterating regret over her "insensitive" tone in addressing sexuality without fully disavowing the hack theory or accepting responsibility for conspiratorial assertions. The episode drew widespread scrutiny for undermining Reid's public persona as a progressive commentator, as the persistent gaps in her defense—coupled with the absence of verified tampering—suggested evasion of accountability for writings aligned with early-2000s fringe views, yet MSNBC affirmed its support, opting not to discipline her amid internal and external backlash. This retention underscored a pattern in ideologically sympathetic media outlets of overlooking historical extremism when the figure advances contemporary narratives.

Public statements sparking backlash

In July 2021, during a segment on The ReidOut, Joy Reid described parents opposing the teaching of in schools as racists, asserting that their concerns stemmed from discomfort with acknowledging America's racial history. This remark provoked backlash from conservative commentators and education advocates, who accused her of dismissing legitimate parental input on and inflaming cultural divisions. Reid's defense of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives escalated tensions in 2025, when she publicly embraced being a "DEI hire" and "affirmative action baby," expressing pride in identity-based advancement over strict . Critics, including media analysts and political opponents, lambasted the admission as an endorsement of unqualified appointments, arguing it exemplified broader institutional prioritization of demographics at the expense of competence. Throughout 2024 and into 2025, Reid repeatedly characterized the MAGA movement and Republican policies as fascist, including labeling Florida's political climate "fascist" after a failed ballot amendment and declaring in her final MSNBC broadcast that "fascism isn't just coming, it's already here." These hyperbolic portrayals drew rebukes from conservatives for hyperbolic rhetoric that equated electoral conservatism with authoritarianism, further polarizing discourse ahead of holidays and elections. On race and cultural appropriation, Reid's August 2025 comments asserting that "mediocre white men" like and "can't invent anything" but instead "steal" from other races ignited accusations of overt racial and anti-white from detractors. Similarly, her August 2024 critique of potential vice presidential pick as "super white" in contrasting him with prompted labels of racism from observers, who viewed it as reductive stereotyping that undermined substantive policy discussion. Reid's for LGBTQ+ issues has coexisted with ongoing from segments within the community and allies for perceived inconsistencies, particularly as her past positions remain unfully reconciled in public defenses of progressive causes. This tension surfaced in media analyses questioning her allyship's authenticity amid broader cultural debates.

Alleged dissemination of misinformation

In the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Joy Reid frequently amplified claims of between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives, framing the narrative as evidence of foreign subversion despite limited prosecutable evidence emerging from investigations. The , released on March 24, 2019, explicitly stated it "does not exonerate" Trump on obstruction but found insufficient evidence to establish or coordination with on election interference. Reid persisted in promoting subservience themes, as in her January 19, 2021, broadcast asserting Trump was "servile" to without issuing retractions aligned with the report's findings, a pattern critics attribute to partisan incentives sustaining audience engagement over empirical revision. Reid contributed to skepticism surrounding the October 2020 New York Post reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop, where contents suggested influence peddling via foreign business ties. On her program, Reid hosted discussions labeling the story an "obvious Russian plot" akin to prior campaigns, mirroring a letter from 51 former officials claiming it bore hallmarks of Russian involvement, despite forensic authentication of the laptop's data by independent analysts in subsequent years. This dismissal, echoed across MSNBC, delayed mainstream verification until post-election probes confirmed the device's legitimacy and relevance, with no on-air corrections from Reid amid revelations of Biden family overseas dealings documented in congressional reviews. In October 2025, Reid condemned the Department of Homeland Security's post of an AI-generated video, originally from , showing Black men threatening agents, accusing the agency of "weaponizing antiblackness" and endangering lives through unverified content. While the video was indeed manipulated and sourced externally, Reid's critique omitted context of DHS's operational strains, including over 2.4 million southwest border encounters in fiscal year 2024 per Customs and Border Protection data, amid documented increases in assaults on agents exceeding 10,000 incidents since 2021. This selective emphasis, favoring racial framing over agency-wide enforcement data, exemplifies patterns where Reid's prioritizes narratives protective of progressive coalitions, sidelining causal factors like policy-driven migration surges verified in federal reports. Reid has depicted , a 900-page policy blueprint from released in 2023, as an existential threat enabling authoritarianism through and erosion of civil rights, including exaggerated claims of intent to "erase diversity" and impose white male dominance. Empirical review reveals its recommendations—such as curtailing DEI mandates and reorganizing federal bureaucracy—align with prior conservative administrations' reforms, yielding measurable outcomes like reduced regulatory burdens without the systemic upheavals alleged, as tracked in implementations from 2017-2021. Her amplification, tailored to primetime segments decrying it as apocalyptic, correlates with MSNBC viewership spikes during election cycles but diverges from data showing policy analogs producing incremental fiscal savings rather than the causal chains of invoked.

Reception and impact

Awards, endorsements, and liberal acclaim

Reid has garnered multiple nominations and awards from organizations emphasizing diversity and progressive journalism. In 2020, The ReidOut received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Talk Series. Her program earned additional NAACP Image Awards in 2022 and 2025 for Outstanding News/Information Series. Reid herself has faced four NAACP Image Award nominations for hosting, including in 2024 and 2025. In recognition of breaking news coverage, The ReidOut secured a 2024 nomination for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards. Earlier, in 2018, her prior MSNBC program AM Joy received three nominations for NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards for coverage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. In 2016, Reid was honored with the Hank Meyer National Headliner Award by the Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews for her reporting contributions. Reid's literary works have also drawn acclaim in aligned progressive outlets. Her 2024 book Medgar & Myrlie: A Marriage of Civil Rights and Courage, a #1 New York Times bestseller chronicling the Evers' , won a 2025 NAACP Image Award. Her 2016 book Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide received positive reviews in left-leaning publications for analyzing intra-Democratic racial tensions during the Obama era. In September 2025, Reid was awarded the anti-censorship honor at the 46th , cited by organizers for her post-MSNBC advocacy amid industry shifts. Such recognitions, largely from civil rights-focused groups like the and NABJ, reflect Reid's prominence within liberal ideological networks that prioritize narratives on race, identity, and Democratic-aligned causes, often functioning as mutual affirmation hubs rather than universally competitive journalistic benchmarks. Progressive media, including Salon, have lauded her debut of The ReidOut in 2020 for amplifying marginalized viewpoints in cable news discourse.

Criticisms for bias, inaccuracy, and media influence

Critics have frequently accused Joy Reid of promoting a pronounced left-wing in her MSNBC commentary, with independent media raters classifying The ReidOut as "Hyper-Partisan Left" based on evaluations of its sourcing, factual reporting, and opinion balance. The , a conservative media watchdog, has documented Reid's segments as consistently framing conservative figures and policies in adversarial terms, often emphasizing identity-based critiques over , which aligns with broader patterns of MSNBC's coverage where empirical scrutiny of progressive policy outcomes, such as rising rates in Democrat-led cities during the , received minimal attention relative to partisan narratives. This perceived one-sidedness has been linked to eroding in media institutions, as Gallup polling in late 2024 revealed only 31% of held a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in mass media's ability to report fully, accurately, and fairly—a historic low exacerbated by outlets like MSNBC prioritizing audience-reinforcing echo chambers over cross-partisan verification. Reid's emphasis on as a lens for interpreting events, such as attributing electoral shifts to racial dynamics rather than economic indicators, has drawn centrist and right-leaning critiques for fostering polarized discourse that incentivizes emotional appeals over of policy impacts, like the correlation between sanctuary city policies and localized crime spikes documented in FBI from 2020-2024. On inaccuracy, The ReidOut earned a "Mixed" reliability score from due to recurring issues with selective fact presentation and , as noted in analyses by media critics who highlight Reid's tendency to conflate opinion with evidence, such as downplaying verifiable data on failures in favor of narrative-driven segments. While internal MSNBC critiques from ex-colleagues remain anecdotal, external observers like those at the Free Beacon have pointed to a pattern of "sloppy " in Reid's work, including unverified assertions that strained factual standards. Reid's media influence is evident in her role amplifying division through partisan incentives, where truth-seeking yields to viewer retention via identity-centric framing—a dynamic that contributed to MSNBC's post- collapse, with the network shedding over 50% of primetime viewership in 2024 as audiences rejected coverage perceived as disconnected from electoral realities like Trump's popular vote margins. Reid's show specifically lost approximately half its audience by December 2024, per Nielsen data, correlating with critiques that her style normalized favoring progressive orthodoxy over empirical balance, further entrenching among non-left-leaning demographics amid systemic biases in mainstream outlets documented by trust surveys.

Personal life

Family and relationships

Joy Reid married Jason Reid, a editor, in February 1997. The couple has three children: one daughter and two sons. Reid has consistently prioritized family privacy, rarely sharing details about her children or home life in public forums despite her high-profile media presence. Jason Reid maintains a low public profile, focusing on his work behind the scenes while supporting the family's stability. No verifiable reports indicate major controversies or public disputes within Reid's family relationships, distinguishing her from professional scrutiny. She has occasionally referenced the challenges of balancing family responsibilities with demanding schedules in interviews, underscoring a commitment to shielding her children from media attention.

Cultural and religious affiliations

Reid was raised in a Christian household and has recounted attending a Methodist church as a child, describing it as a modest congregation without elaborate . In her public reflections, she has invoked core Christian doctrines, such as the imperative to love immigrants as central to the faith, drawing from both Catholic and Protestant traditions. Her cultural identity is shaped by her parents' immigrant origins—her father an engineer from the and her mother from —positioning her within the . Reid has expressed pride in this heritage, emphasizing how her parents' meeting at the bridged diverse African backgrounds marked by distinct linguistic and cultural accents. This foundation subtly influences her persona as a commentator on diaspora experiences, separate from direct familial narratives.

Published works

Books and writings

Joy-Ann Reid authored : Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Racial Divide, published in September 2015 by William Morrow, an imprint of . The book examines intra-party conflicts within the Democratic Party, particularly the 2008 presidential primary tensions between and , framed through the lens of racial dynamics and historical precedents in American politics. Reid draws on events like Bill Clinton's controversial comparison of Obama's primary win to Jesse Jackson's 1988 campaign, arguing these highlighted enduring racial fault lines. Reviews described it as an "intelligent, informative, historical account" of the era's political figures and events. In 2017, Reid co-edited We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama, published by , compiling selected addresses from Obama's career with contextual introductions. The volume traces Obama's rhetorical evolution from community organizer to president, emphasizing themes of hope, unity, and progressive policy. It received attention for its archival value among Obama supporters but limited broader critical analysis. Reid's 2020 book, The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story, released by in April, critiques the Trump presidency's impact on U.S. institutions, economy, and social fabric, linking it to congressional proceedings. The work positions Trump's leadership as a rupture in American norms, with chapters on policy reversals and cultural shifts. It appealed primarily to audiences critical of Trump, aligning with Reid's MSNBC commentary. Her most recent publication, Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America, issued in February 2024 by , is a of civil rights activist and his wife . It details their personal partnership amid the civil rights struggle, Evers's 1963 , and Myrlie's subsequent activism, including her role in securing justice decades later. The book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and won an Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - /Auto-Biography. A New York Times review characterized it as a "352-page love letter" repositioning both figures as central to the movement.

References

  1. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/joy-reid-1968/
  2. https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2025-09-15/joy-reid-and-percival-everett-are-among-winners-of-the-46th-annual-american-book-awards
  3. https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/joy-reid-biography-n1156506
  4. https://www.iowapublicradio.org/podcast/river-to-river/2023-02-17/msnbcs-joy-reid-is-the-daughter-of-immigrants-who-met-at-the-university-of-iowa
  5. https://www.harrywalker.com/speakers/joy-ann-reid
  6. https://www.facebook.com/groups/771673398258751/posts/1140969197995834/
  7. https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-silent-joy-reid-controversial-bizarre-media
  8. https://www.foxnews.com/media/joy-reid-claims-mediocre-white-men-like-trump-elvis-cant-invent-anything-steal-culture-from-other-races
  9. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/joy-ann-reid.html
  10. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/01/joy-reid-old-blog-posts-apology-617111
  11. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43936042
  12. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/business/media/joy-reid-hacking-msnbc.html
  13. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/msnbc-stands-by-joy-reid-after-new-apology-for-controversial-blog-posts/2018/06/01/5c327458-65c3-11e8-a69c-b944de66d9e7_story.html
  14. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/msnbcs-joy-reid-says-shes-embarrassed-more-old-blog-posts-revealed-1116462/
  15. https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-msnbc-host-joy-reid-claims-illegals-new-n-word-republicans
  16. https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbcs-joy-reid-links-opposition-trans-medical-procedures-nazi-germany
  17. https://starsunfolded.com/joy-reid/
  18. https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/authors/joy-reid-net-worth/
  19. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/style/joy-reid-msnbc.html
  20. https://www.vulture.com/2017/09/joy-reid-wants-to-argue-with-you.html
  21. https://face2faceafrica.com/article/joy-reid-makes-history-as-the-first-black-cable-news-anchor
  22. https://www.joyannreid.com/p/the-daily-reid-a-60-minutes-warning
  23. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jul/3/joy-reid-credits-affirmative-action-getting-her-ha/
  24. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article78121732.html
  25. https://vocal.media/history/joy-reid-biography-the-untold-journey-of-a-progressive-media-pioneer-career-controversies-and-legacy
  26. https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/tv/article244253597.html
  27. https://guyanesegirlsrock.com/guyanese-heritage-joy-ann-joy-reid-tv-personalitymanaging-editorpolitical-commentator/
  28. https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/other/additional-information-on-joy-reid/
  29. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/business/media/joy-reid-msnbc-anchor.html
  30. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3836710/
  31. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6199682/
  32. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/16/trump-supporters-libel-case-against-msnbcs-joy-reid-lives/
  33. https://corporate.comcast.com/press/releases/msnbc-joy-reid-host-the-reidout-weeknights-msnbc
  34. https://deadline.com/2020/07/joy-reid-msnbc-ratings-fox-news-1202991300/
  35. https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbcs-joy-reid-loses-roughly-half-her-viewers-since-election-primetime-hosts-also-struggle
  36. https://deadline.com/2025/02/joy-reid-msnbc-show-ends-1236300707/
  37. https://www.newsweek.com/joy-reid-trump-battle-msnbc-reidout-2035319
  38. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/feb/23/msnbc-joy-reid-show
  39. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/business/msnbc-joy-reid.html
  40. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2025/02/24/joy-reid-show-canceled-msnbc/79812208007/
  41. https://deadline.com/2025/02/msnbc-cancels-joy-reid-1236298901/
  42. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/25/g-s1-50551/joy-reid-msnbc-fired
  43. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/23/media/msnbc-cancels-joy-reid-primetime
  44. https://nypost.com/2025/02/24/media/msnbc-hosts-say-final-goodbyes-to-joy-reid-following-her-shows-sudden-cancellation-despair-is-the-autocrats-tool/
  45. https://thegrio.com/2025/02/24/joy-reids-final-sign-off-on-msnbcs-the-reidout-you-dont-always-win-every-battle-but-the-whole-thing-is-about-resisting/
  46. https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/joy-reid-podcast-launch-msnbc-1236413974/
  47. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/joy-reid-podcast-launch-former-msnbc-1236232735/
  48. https://www.revolt.tv/article/joy-ann-reid-to-launch-the-joy-reid-show-podcast-on-june-9
  49. https://enspiremag.com/2025/06/the-joy-reid-show-launches-on-june-9-across-major-podcast-platforms/
  50. https://www.joyannreid.com/
  51. https://podcasts.apple.com/na/podcast/full-show-joy-reid-interview-mandii-b-weezywtf-interview/id1232428553?i=1000714394333
  52. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-is/2025/03/07/joy-reid-reidout-canceled-msnbc-detroit/81601897007/
  53. https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/transcript-reidout-6-7-21-n1269926
  54. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/everyday-racism-america-being-black-means-constantly-rendering-yourself-unthreatening-ncna878291
  55. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkTyiQ0ZkhI
  56. https://www.joyannreid.com/p/a-daily-reid-on-memory
  57. https://www.facebook.com/joyreidofficial/posts/when-the-rifgt-says-meritocracy-they-mean-literally-any-random-straight-christia/1198027281685741/
  58. https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/posts/former-msnbc-host-joy-reid-claimed-that-not-supporting-diversity-equity-and-incl/1083012993688562/
  59. https://www.facebook.com/thehodgetwins/posts/joy-reid-said-yes-i-am-dei-yes-i-only-got-in-to-colleges-on-affirmative-action-i/1354799246002659/
  60. https://www.salon.com/2021/03/14/joy-reids-truth-telling-the-hidden-wages-of-white-supremacy-and-the-n-word/
  61. https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/transcript-reidout-7-5-21-n1273106
  62. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fascist-liberal-critics-melt-down-after-florida-voters-reject-abortion-rights-amendment
  63. https://www.thewrap.com/joy-reid-ron-desantis-abortion-rights-amendment-4-msnbc/
  64. https://www.facebook.com/joyreidofficial/posts/americas-meanest-most-brazenly-fascist-and-self-serving-governor-rondesantis-str/1102378051250665/
  65. https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/us-news/joy-reid-trump-florida-us-election-b2642315.html
  66. https://x.com/tyldil204/status/1814050771316478109
  67. https://dailycaller.com/2024/12/31/chris-cuomo-says-he-felt-satisfaction-over-harris-loss-after-lefties-downplayed-trump-assassination-attempt/
  68. https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbcs-joy-reid-blames-maga-republicans-actual-violence-light-trump-assassination-attempt
  69. https://www.facebook.com/100059373500267/posts/868676625121446/
  70. https://www.foxnews.com/media/joy-reid-gets-pushback-msnbc-show-comparing-marjorie-greene-jefferson-davis
  71. https://www.foxnews.com/media/desantis-creating-white-nationalist-movement-everywhere-else-claims-joy-reid
  72. https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/joy-reid-shreds-trumps-racist-fear-mongering-ad-claiming-democrats-will-be-complicit-in-murders/
  73. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/apr/21/dei-language-conservatives-baltimore
  74. https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/baltimore-mayor-claims-racists-use-dei-instead-of-n-word-dont-have-the-courage-msnbc-joy-reid-diversity-equity-inclusion-brandon-scott-maryland-francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse-cable-news-woke-city
  75. https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2017/12/03/msnbcs-joy-reid-apologies-for-anti-gay-comments-about-charlie-crist/
  76. https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2018/05/31/msnbc-host-joy-reid-faces-new-questions-about-her-old-blog/RNug2955uL3KnTApEYr28J/story.html
  77. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/business/media/joy-reid-msnbc-apology.html
  78. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/msnbc-host-joy-reid-says-homophobic-blog-posts-were-not-n869136
  79. https://www.nydailynews.com/2018/04/26/fbi-now-investigating-joy-reids-claims-that-blog-was-hacked-with-homophobic-posts/
  80. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/msnbc-s-joy-reid-says-no-proof-blog-hacking-found-n869771
  81. https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/04/28/msnbc-host-reid-hack-victim-or-homophobe.cnn
  82. https://blog.archive.org/2018/04/24/addressing-recent-claims-of-manipulated-blog-posts-in-the-wayback-machine/
  83. https://www.mediaite.com/online/daily-beast-investigation-refutes-evidence-from-cyber-expert-that-joy-reids-blog-was-hacked/
  84. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/msnbc-s-joy-reid-apologizes-insensitive-lgbt-blog-posts-n826091
  85. https://www.axios.com/2018/06/01/joy-reid-msnbc-respond-to-blog-controversy
  86. https://www.wired.com/story/short-history-blaming-hackers-joy-reid/
  87. https://www.newsweek.com/msnbc-host-joy-reid-says-parents-who-dont-want-critical-race-theory-taught-schools-are-racists-1588967
  88. https://nypost.com/2025/02/23/us-news/a-look-at-joy-reids-biggest-controversies-and-outbursts-as-her-msnbc-show-gets-the-ax/
  89. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmTWb-AKKrs
  90. https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/maga-extremist-agenda-is-a-fascist-fever-dream-and-trump-claims-he-has-never-heard-of-it-214448709598
  91. https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3285571/who-msnbc-host-joy-reid-who-just-called-florida-fascist-she-previously-worked-barack-obamas-campaign
  92. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5162634-msnbc-host-joy-reid-fascism-resistance/
  93. https://nypost.com/2024/11/28/media/joy-reid-has-unhinged-rant-against-republicans-ahead-of-thanksgiving-make-your-own-dinner-maga/
  94. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/joy-reid-dubbed-disgusting-racist-for-blistering-attack-on-tim-walz-describing-mark-kelly-as-super-white-like-101723199176068.html
  95. https://variety.com/2025/tv/columns/joy-reid-msnbc-lgbtq-tweets-1236316877/
  96. https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-joy-reid-trump-servile-russia
  97. https://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/hunter-biden-story-an-obvious-russian-plot-mcfaul-believes-94104133512
  98. https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-msnbc-dismissed-hunter-bidens-laptop-russian-disinformation-narrative-deflated
  99. https://thegrio.com/2025/10/19/joy-ann-reid-calls-out-dhs-for-ai-generated-video-of-black-men-threatening-ice/
  100. https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/project-2025-rooted-in-christian-nationalism-with-intent-to-give-white-christian-men-power-215951941759
  101. https://www.foxnews.com/media/joy-reid-conspiracy-theories-misinformation
  102. https://www.simmons.edu/why-simmons/leadership-events-simmons/ifill-forum/gwen-ifill-next-generation-award
  103. https://www.facebook.com/msnbc/videos/congratulations-to-the-the-reidout-with-joy-reid-which-received-an-naacp-image-a/993119462717596/
  104. https://www.facebook.com/TheReidOut/posts/thereidout-on-msnbc-has-been-nominated-by-the-news-documentary-emmy-awards-reide/858119679510474/
  105. https://www.facebook.com/joyreidofficial/photos/thank-you-nabj-for-nominating-amjoy-for-three-salute-to-excellence-awards-for-ou/1682705435175405/
  106. https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/joy-ann-reid-41116
  107. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/joy-reid-and-percival-everett-among-winners-of-the-46th-annual-american-book-awards
  108. https://www.salon.com/2020/07/25/joy-reid-the-reidout-debut-msnbc/
  109. https://adfontesmedia.com/reidout-bias-and-reliability/
  110. https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/geoffrey-dickens/2025/02/24/bye-bye-joy-worst-joy-reid
  111. https://www.yahoo.com/news/mainstream-media-sifts-wreckage-trump-141500921.html
  112. https://freebeacon.com/author/stiles/media/joy-reid-promotion-msnbc/
  113. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/what-is-joy-reids-net-worth-and-who-is-her-husband-all-you-need-to-know-about-former-msnbc-show-host-101740498282627.html
  114. https://www.newsweek.com/joy-reid-husband-jason-kids-canceled-msnbc-show-fired-2035555
  115. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/joy-reid-husband-jason-relationship-165106767.html
  116. https://www.ex-start.com/27028821/joy-reid-children-a-deep-dive-into-the/
  117. https://www.joyannreid.com/p/the-daily-reid-blessed-are-the-peacemakers
  118. https://www.facebook.com/joyreidofficial/posts/amen-love-of-the-immigrant-is-central-to-the-christian-faith-catholic-and-protes/1380455156776285/
  119. https://www.facebook.com/msnbc/posts/joy-reid-reveals-her-parents-were-immigrants-from-parts-of-the-world-where-accor/1902095729886670/
  120. https://www.amazon.com/Fracture-Barack-Clintons-Racial-Divide/dp/0062305263
  121. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fracture-joy-ann-reid/1121815937
  122. https://www.audible.ca/author/Joy-Ann-Reid/B010GPFDXW
  123. https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Sold-America-Unraveling/dp/0062880101
  124. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/books/review/joy-ann-reid-medgar-and-myrlie.html
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.