By David Futrelle
Chris Matthews’ abrupt on-air resignation from his MSNBC show Hardball on Monday caught a lot of people off guard, none more so than the network’s go-to political numbers guy Steve Kornacki, who found himself with nearly an hour of live television to fill after Matthews walked off the set. (He got through it.)
Matthews’ passive aggressive resignation speech made it pretty clear that he had been pushed out (a fact that’s now been confirmed) While offering a sort of apology for some of the behavior that got him in trouble with both women viewers and network brass, his weirdly defensive language and the tone of his remarks both made clear he still didn’t quite understand the complaints against him. He said the right words, or something close to them, but it’s clear he wasn’t feeling the music.
“Compliments on a woman’s appearance that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were okay, were never okay,” Matthews begrudgingly acknowledged. “Not then, and certainly not today—and for making such comments in the past, I’m sorry.”
That’s what you’re calling them, “compliments?”
Matthews, a man with almost no filter, has been talking about women’s looks on his show for decades now — mostly gushing over the “beauty” of guests and fellow journalists who appeal to his own personal boner, but sometimes (as in the case of Ann Coulter) putting them down.
The Daily Show gathered together some of his, er, greatest hits here.
For many, many more examples, see here.
Matthews’ comments in private seem to have been even worse. Way back in 1999, NBC paid out $40,000 in a settlement with a woman who had accused him of sexual harassment. Last week, journalist Laura Bassett wrote about Matthews allegedly creeping on her backstage in a piece for GQ. Who knows how many more women have similar stories.
But Matthews misogyny extended way beyond “compliments” on air and off. His commentary on female politicians and other public figures was tinged with sexism and often outright hostility — describing Hillary Clinton, one of his bete noires, as “witchy” and “anti-male.” For examples, see this Media Matters piece by Jamison Foser, who ultimately concluded that
Chris Matthews has been treating female guests as sexual objects for years. He has been judging women — senators, presidential candidates, the speaker of the House — on their clothes and their voices and their appearance for years. He has been referring to women as “castrating” for years. He has been applying double standards to male and female candidates for years.
This was written back in 2008, by the way, and it’s still as true now as it was then.
Despite this long and hardly secret history, some have been defending Matthews and decrying his forced resignation. Kornacki, even thought he was the one left holding the bag for Matthews after his sudden departure, offered his former colleague a glowing tribute on air. On Twitter, Matthews has been defended by fellow MCNBCers Joy Reid, Nicole Wallace, Andrea Mitchell and Morning Joe’s Joe Scarbourgh and Mika Brzezinski. Columnist Kathleen Parker offered this hot take:
One person’s innocent flirtation is another’s sexual harassment. That’s why you’re not supposed to pull this shit at work — a lesson Matthews somehow failed to learn despite having been called out for this behavior for more than two decades.
It’s good he’s out. I just never thought I’d see it.
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I’m also glad Chris is out. Though I’m kind of frustrated it took him this long. I mean, he’s been misogynistic for decades, yet what finally takes him out is saying stuff about a man (at least, I assume his Bernie-Nazi comparisons were the last straw). If that was the last straw, it was certainly uncool, but he should have been fired long before; he’s said much worse things in the past. It’s like getting Al Capone on tax evasion charges.
Doesn’t surprise me that Joy Reid would defend him, after she said Bernie kicked Hillary voters to the curb, she’s never known a progressive she didn’t hate. But a sexual harasser who worked besides her,A-ok in her books.
Goodbye and good riddance
Right-wing bootlicker Tweety is a gross-ass sexist too? I’m shocked, SHOCKED.
This, right here, is my shocked face –>
In all seriousness, though, it’s kind of awesome that his harassment of women is the straw that broke the camel’s back, however late in the game. How many others just like him have gone their entire careers without a speck of accountability or ignominy? It’s great that finally, harassed women can speak out and their voices can be heard over all the right-wing garbage-can-lid rattling noises (glaring at you, Kathleen Fucking Parker.)
And it’s even greater that someone like him can finally take a forced “retirement” in shame, as he should.
I’m only sorry that he wasn’t shitcanned outright. And much, MUCH sooner.
He won’t be missed on the air waves.
I wish MSNBC would bring back Melissa Harris-Perry and give her his slot, but that probably won’t happen.
I’m glad he is gone, but his behavior toward women is only one of his problems. He conducted “interviews” by asking a question, then immediately demanding that his guests agree with the answers that he provided himself. I quit watching him regularly a long time ago, and the occasional time I heard the show lately merely confirmed that he continued that pattern.
I remember his shocked look in the 2008 primary in New Hampshire when Hillary unexpectedly was winning, and an on-the-ground reporter told him voters were actually citing his misogynistic Hillary-bashing as a reason for switching their vote- not talking heads, not Washington media, not NBC, but Chris Matthew by name.
@galanx
Hahaha that’s awesome!
Oh fuck off, Kyle.
Lookin’ good!
I am heterosexual man, top of the food chain. Ladies, when you see me, smile.
@Anne K
Can’t get MSNBC in the UK so I’ve never heard of Matthews until now, but your comment intrigued me. I looked at an interview with Elizabeth Warren (that Kyle of NYPost mentioned above) and that sort of belligerence was on full display. The whole time he just steamrolled over her words with “BUT THE TAXES THOUGH”
@Sunnysombrera
If Warren does end up dropping out of the presidential race (not that she should), I bet she’ll do so with far more grace and humor than Chris Matthews showed when flouncing off his own show.
@sunnysombrera:
Can you imagine putting that in the job description? “Must be willing to provide emotional support to old guys desperate to believe that they’re still attractive to young women”. Because if you require your employees to do something, it ought to be in their JD, right?
Holy shit am I tired of the whole “he was nice to me therefore he’s nice to all women and people” routine. I completely believe Kathleen Parker when she says they have a reciprocal friendship, but I’m not sure how that negates any other misogyny or harrassment on his part. It’s like people have no capacity to understand that you can do shitty things or even be a shitty person without literally being a cartoon villain to everyone you come across. Next time they’ll be telling me that sometimes murderers love their families.
@Perry
I’ve seen a lot of far right terrorists described as “loving to their families.” There’s also a racist element, seeing as this is pretty much only given to white male terrorists.
@Naglfar
Yeah, I meant it to be sarcastic, like by Parker’s logic if a murderer loves their family (which, most do) then the crime is justifiable/didn’t happen. But thinking about it I realize that for a lot of crimes, crimes that those of certain ideologies already consider excusable, they will justify them using this logic. Methinks sexual predation is included in this category.
@ Perry & Naglfar
By synchronicity, Moon Custafer introduced me to this series today; and this strip seems sort of related
http://wondermark.com/c1510/
@Alan Robertshaw
Reminds me of an old joke:
Judge: Five people saw the defendant steal a watch.
Defendant: I can find five hundred people who didn’t see me steal it.
Oh, in the workplaces that applies to it’s not seen as a requirement for a job, it’s a requirement for existing while female.
Besides, Kyle is just flat wrong regarding motives. Young women in the past didn’t sit tight and shut up because they were “more forgiving and understanding”, they did it because they knew there’s be repercussions otherwise.
Being Canadian, I’ve only got a passing familiarity with him, but when I tried to watch his announcement, I could only make it less than a minute before I had to stop.
Every syllable of every word of every sentence was SHOUTED. Everything. There was no nuance, no variation, no quiet. Why exactly was he shouting?
So I looked at a couple of other clips of him – and he was shouting. Again. Every time. That seems to be all he could do. How on earth did he have a career in broadcast news? Who, exactly, thought this obnoxious gasbag was an effective communicator?
@Karl
As an American, I can tell you with regret that obnoxious gasbags are quite popular here. For example, the Republican Party is mostly composed of them.
@Perry
My ex-therapist tried to deal with my anger by de-legitimizing it with arguments like these. “You think that the conservatives caging children in concentration camps are terrible people, but they’re not. They love their own children.”
Oh, so there are some children that they DON’T imprison and torture because their parents committed misdemeanors. They must be truly kind people, then.
Also, I know far too many LGBT people to believe that conservatives love their children.
@wwth – I agree! I’d love to see Melissa Harris-Perry in that slot. I’m afraid it’ll be Michael Steele or Michael Schmidt, though. Or Stephanie Ruhle; I cannot watch her for some reason. She filled in on one of the shows I watch and she really rubbed me the wrong way.
Since we’re talking about MSNBC, I’ve always wondered why some hosts hand over their shows and chat with the next host (i.e. Chris Hayes to Rachel Maddow and Rachel Maddow to Lawrence O’Donnell) and others don’t? (Chris Matthews never talks to Chris Hayes). I really don’t know much about the daytime lineup at all, I have to admit, because I really only watch Hayes and Maddow.
I am getting a lot of street harassment today in a dress that suppose to look like it’s from like 1930s. These dude want to fuck their grandmothers apparently