MSNBC host offers tearful apology to Romneys
Updated 1:49 p.m., 1/4/2014
(CNN) - MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry made a tearful apology to Mitt Romney’s family on her show Saturday, after she and a panel poked fun at a photo of the former Republican presidential candidate with his wife and 21 grandchildren by zeroing in on his adopted African-American grandson.
"Whatever the intent was, the reality is that the segment proceeded in a way that was offensive, and showing the photo in that context, of that segment, was poor judgment. So without reservation or qualification, I apologize to the Romney family," said the anchor at the open of her show, "Melissa Harris-Perry."
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Harris-Perry became emotional as she went on to apologize to all "other families formed through transracial adoption," saying, "I am deeply sorry that we suggested that interracial families are in any way funny or deserving of ridicule."
She highlighted her own interracial background, as the daughter of an African-American man and a white Mormon woman. But, she said, families are always "off limits," and the Romneys' grandchildren should never have been a topic of discussion.
"Adults who enter into public life implicitly consent to having less privacy. But their families, and especially their children, should not be treated callously or thoughtlessly. My intention was not malicious, but I broke the ground rule that families are off limits, and for that I am sorry," she said.
Harris-Perry first apologized on Twitter and MSNBC's website Tuesday, offering a similar mea culpa "without reservation or qualification."
During the segment last Sunday, Harris-Perry asked a panel to come up with a caption for the Romney family photo, and two panelists made jokes about the infant standing out.
Actress Pia Glenn began singing lines from the song popularized by Sesame Street, "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others." Comedian Dean Obeidallah said the picture "really sums up the diversity of the Republican Party."
Obeidallah appears frequently on CNN and writes a regular opinion column for CNN.com.
Harris-Perry described the baby as "gorgeous" and joked that in 2040 he would marry North West, the daughter of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
"Can you imagine Mitt Romney and Kanye West as in-laws?" she said, to laughs.
Criticism was swift across social media, with prominent Republicans from Sarah Palin to former Sen. Scott Brown weighing in.
A spokeswoman for Romney told CNN he was on a family vacation this week and unavailable for comment. On Sunday, Romney will appear on “Fox News Sunday,” where he is likely to be asked about the episode.
MSNBC has been in some hot water recently after a handful of their hosts have made controversial comments. Alec Baldwin and the network parted ways in November after his homophobic outburst against photographers, and Martin Bashir resigned in December for his suggestion that Sarah Palin deserved graphic punishment for comparing U.S. foreign debt to slavery.
–CNN's Ashley Killough contributed to this report.
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Boo hoooo!! I find obama's ears very funny and poke fun at them often! So get over it!
And here you see one of the vast differences between the left and the right.
To date, no host on Fox News has ever offered an apology for anything offensive they have said nor have they ever shown an ounce of remorse for it.
Crocodile tears!
What happened to just actually reporting the news instead of having an opinion party with 5 different pundits yucking it up?! It would be nice to just go back in time when the real professional anchors just spewed the news and didn't feel the need to interject their important opinions!
She should be fired! she is the biggest hypocrite putting on the false act of love and tolerance but ultimately truly revealing herself as a flaming racist, get rid of her!
Wow, very sincere apology for something that was really blown out of proportion. Something you'll never see from Fox, by the way.
MSNBC and FOX should not be allowed to be called news networks it nothing but propaganda . If you watch one of these channels for your news I feel sorry for you. "Drink the Kool-aid" !
It is okay for black people to be racist all they want. There is a double standard particularly in the press.
Amazing. This girl, or was it members of her panel, make some comments in jest, and the right wing goes nuts. "Fire her!" They cry. "Liberals are racists and hypocrites," they cry. But she apologized, and the last time someone on MSNBC said something wrong, the guy was fired. There was no backlash over this firing from the left.
But when someone on the right says something, ie. that Duckman from that duck show, says something much, much more insulting concerning entire groups of people, these very same people cry out that it's suddenly a free speech issue. Mr. Duckman doubles down and does not apologize at all. It's just the way he is, the right cries. The right doesn't cry for him to be fired. They only cry lie babies when he is suspended.
The right says hateful and insulting things all the time, and it's okay for them to say it. But, when someone on the left says something THEY don't like, they get all indignant and self-righteous. It's okay for them to spew hate–they never apologize and when they're called on the carpet for it, all they do is double down and cry out how big the victims they are.
children ARE ALWAYS OFF LIMITS children do not get to pick their families and do not asked to be made fun of ,,when will this bullying stop
Steve – people are not going to move from one state to the next just to be with people with similar political beliefs. For example, I'm a fiscally conservation Texan that moved to Michigan for a job that paid twice as much. Anyway, that's the sort of thing that sparks movement...:-)
It's entirely possible that Ms. Harris-Perry was told that an apology via Twitter was lame and that something more forthcoming was necessary. If she didn't, then her short "career" at MSNBC would be short-lived, and other media outlets would probably not hire her.
The tears may not have been genuine, much like apologies from the likes of other politicians are not sincere.
She is a joke....
who cares. accept her apology and move on. Just words.
Racist is as racist does. I condemn her just as I would anyone doing such a heartless thing.
What a crock of manure – She's but another example of the rampant hypocrisy of the left's bigotry and race-baiting machine. I sincerely hope MSNBC continues to allow these imps to spew their brand of hatred because it exposes the left's growing exasperation with the failure of their messiah and ideology.
She should be fired. Period. End of story.
Amazing. This girl, or was it members of her panel, make some comments in jest, and the right wing goes nuts. "Fire her!" They cry. "Liberals are racists and hypocrites," they cry. But she apologized, and the last time someone on MSNBC said something wrong, the guy was fired. There was no backlash over this firing from the left.
But when someone on the right says something, ie. that Duckman from that duck show, says something much, much more insulting concerning entire groups of people, these very same people cry out that it's suddenly a free speech issue. Mr. Duckman doubles down and does not apologize at all. It's just the way he is, the right cries. The right doesn't cry for him to be fired. They only cry lie babies when he is suspended.
The right says hateful and insulting things all the time, and it's okay for them to say it. But, when someone on the left says something THEY don't like, they get all indignant and self-righteous. It's okay for them to spew hate–they never apologize and when they're called on the carpet for it, all they do is double down and cry out how big the victims they are.
So she's trying the Paula Deen routine. Hope it works better for her than it did for Paula.
give her a banana
She's a racist POS just like the station that employs her.
if I had a quarter for everytime someone said something mean and racist to me or behind my back i would have lots more money than i do now. Why is this lady apologizing like she insulted God? Get a grip and move on.....
Pretty easy to apologize to a three month old. Man up and apologize to him face to face 20 years from now!
Why was she not fired and show canceled...........racist bigot?
You can take them out of the jungle, but
The comments were In poor taste but she did apologize . Move on there are too many issues in this country that need to be addressed, unemployment, ie. Continuous focusing on every stupid comment someone says keeps this country divided and not focused on real issues and concerns.