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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If she were white talking about someone black she would have been fired in hours. Reverse racism is rampant. Ever notice the tv shows, commercials, and signs posted in walmart of people of color? It's like 90% color now and 10% white. While the population is about the opposite of that.
That being said. The Romneys did have to cook their books for a month to make it look like they pay a 14% tax rate. Even at 14% that is less of a percentage than someone working 60 hours a week at $8 an hour to make $24k a year.
forgive and forget.
Claire Davis's father said it well at her funeral.
When you really screw up, blubber or go into rehab. Works every time.
Maybe she should be fired and blacklisted in the industry for her hate crime! Jail would be appropriate if Romney would be smart enough to go on the attack against MSNBC for political corruption and racism.
If it had been a FOX person, the Liberals would be screaming for their heads...
There is nothing wrong in what she said. I think its embarrassing for the Romneys to did what they did.
Death to MSNBC.
I am so sorry I came this close to losing my job?
MSNBC is the most worthless pile of garbage in the world. Al Jazeera is less biased than they are. There are government run media outlets in places like China that probably wonder how MSNBC can be so blatantly one sided. I just love it when people are quick to jump on the liberal bandwagon and talk about how "awful" Fox News is when MSNBC is 10 times worse, they are just biased towards the left.
For all of you people throwing out the Duck Dynasty as some sort of excuse for Melissa Harris-Perry's segment on her show:
Duck Dynasty is a reality show about an odd family with a misguided zealot as a patriarch, while Perry is a professional journalist with her own show on a major TV network.
A reality show family is allowed the freedom to have its own set of standards, the TV host has a professional set of standards. She ignored hers.
It seems to me both sides of the isle make all kinds of mistakes...why can't we all just get along and do what is best for each other and humanity as a whole?
I wish all Media would knock this race baiting off, including This place
Still talking about this? Wow!
Bless her for telling the truth.
Wow, I thought she had said something horrific given how much press this has been getting, but just read what was said and this thing was so OVERBLOWN. Sounds like people are using this for their own political purposes. Good grief, focus your energy on something that actually matters people.
While the comments were what I would expect from MSNBC'ers, both employed and viewers, does anyone believe they don't really mean to make bigoted comments? Intentional and telling.
I only know this clown from her (in)famous "We have to break through our private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families. . ." quote. I thought Tingles Matthews and Special Ed handled the race-baiting duties on MSNBC. Imagine what this collection of yahoos are like when they're not trying their best to restrain themselves.
Making Tulane University proud.
I thought she had said something horrible given the media coverage, but this is Overblown and barely newsworthy. It wasn't a big deal and people are pretending to be outraged for political reasons. Seriously, focus on something that actually matters people. smh
fire everyone involved. If it had been a white anchor, on a conservative network, that's what all the liberal crybabies would demand.
Fire the racist bigot now!!! Nothing is BLACK ENOUGH for Perry. She has the markings of a true MSNBC Liberal Dem TV host who adds nothing to fair and unbiased journalism. TURN MSNBC and its Liberal agenda off now.
As an adoptive mother, I was very sad to hear this story earlier in the week, I am glad to hear the apologies being made, but ignorant people repeat what they have heard. Too late! People should spend a second to think of others before they speak!
This host IS an adopted child from white Mormon parents. It was obvious she meant no harm. If she meant harm, then she is talking about herself and her family too. It just was blown out of proportion The other people made fun, but one of them is a comedian, and I have seen comedians go WAY over the line on their jokes that it makes these jokes they made with Romney's adopted child seem like nothing. But back to the host on the video played above, she was in the same situation as the black child and it was obvious she meant no harm.
Wow, people, y'all really need to lighten up. It is ridiculous that this was even an issue. Boy, pretty soon people are gonna be thrown in jail for laughing at a joke, or just speaking their mind. I remember when America was proud of our Freedom of Speech. But now it is going down the tubes due to political correctness on steroids and way far to the extreme. I have heard much worse on Chelsea Lately and no one complains. I was very curious to find out what horrible thing this correspondent had said to elicit such a tearful on-air apology, and when I read what it was, then I really laughed. Now that was funny!