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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By the way, who are "Actress" Pia Glenn and "Comedian" Dean Obeidallah?
Obviously they should suffer the same fate as Paula Dean
Looking for a job in Hollymood?
Some of the worst racists are liberal progressive.
msnbc's racist anchors are ALL disgusting to listen to. poor racist baby cried only for fear of losing her racist job.
There was no need for Melissa to apologize to the Romneys. Bringing this black kid into the family is just another Republican propaganda. To include or adopt a black third world kid is just another way of the Romneys to show they are into the trending culture of whites adopting blacks – those whites who have truly adopted black kids had no ulterior motive but just give an unwanted black child a home.
Wow,do you liberals really know how crazy you all sound.
You've become the new exremists.
So, why does the MSNBC host have to apologize, but Robertson can say whatever he wants? Is it because she was joking, while Robertson really believed in what he said? What if she really believed in what she said? Doesn't everyone have the same freedom of speech? Why does Robertson expect that he can speak without consequences? Other people have to apologize, but Robertson does not. Does he get special right?
uhggg this society that even expects an a apology for this..get some lives
elitist crocodile tears.
Melissa Harris-Perry needs to be fired!!
i hear liberals in NYC talking like this everyday, who care's we are use to it!!
They shouldn't have apologized for a single thing. This is no different than the whole duck nonsense. A person using a media forum to express their opinion. If duck didn't have to apologize why should anyone at MSNBC.
Come on, she should resign or be fired. But that does not happen to liberal women folks.
I was very surprised I didn't see the Duck Dynasty supporters up in arms to defend her. Free speech and all.
Banish her like Paula Deen was! What's good for the goose is good for the gander!
Why are MSNBC people always turning around apologizing for something insulting they said? Maybe it's to bring attn to their failing network
Was the crying because she did career damage to herself? If msnbc does not fire her does this mean that they approve of this type of behavior?
A tearful apology brought images of Paula Deen to mind. I then wondered what MSNBCs take was on the Paula Deen lynching and found the following. I think the comment below shows the mind set of MSNBC and their hosts. I am a Democrat that has never seen such venom speak from my party prior to 2008.
MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry gave a pseudo-defense of Paula Deen this afternoon, saying the celebrity chef was likely “confused” by the racist imagery that plagues the food industry. “I could understand why she’d be confused given the Aunt Jemima box and given Popeye’s,” she explained as some examples.
Anyone seeing a pattern yet?
One person does stand out oddly in that photo.
Come on Mitt! Don't they make a blue and white checkerboard shirt in your size? Every other male in the picture managed to find one.
Sorry if I am being insensitive to the "differently clothed". But, stick to the theme.
Yet the Glenn Becks, Ann Coulters and Russ Limbaughs of this world never apologize for the truly hateful comments they make every week.
she and all on msnbc are terrible racists. it is beyond unwatchable. i will never watch them again after the racist fiasco they pulled during the Zimmerman trial. it was UNBELIEVABLE.
Funny that both left & right wing nuts do the same things, then bash the other for committing the same offenses...personally thought it was funny. One of things was not like the other, and it is a good representation of the the republican demographic's lack of diversity.
A silly emotional unstable woman. People who took her seriously won't be anymore.
This woman had been unstable for a long time. It's possible she may have a drug problem.