Former “Hardball” host Chris Matthews said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that he departed the network because he “remarked on somebody’s appearance in the makeup room.”
As Mediaite pointed out, in March 2020, Laura Bassett claimed that Matthews “inappropriately flirted” and made her feel uncomfortable before appearing on his show.
Bassett wrote, “In 2016, right before I had to go on his show and talk about sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump, Matthews looked over at me in the makeup chair next to him and said, ‘Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet? When I laughed nervously and said nothing, he followed up to the makeup artist. ‘Keep putting makeup on her. I’ll fall in love with her.'”
Matthews said. “I know the reason I left. Somebody reported that I complimented somebody — actually, I’m going to use the right words here — I commented, remarked on somebody’s appearance in the makeup room. I shouldn’t have done that. Nobody has to come defend me. By the way, I kept all my friends. Nobody needs to defend me. I did something wrong.”
He added, “I’m going to move on from that. I accept it. I took ownership of it, using a nice modern phrase. I took complete ownership; I’m not going to deny it. I lost my show over it. That’s it. So that’s the truth.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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