Former Co-Host: Joy Reid Created ‘Most Toxic Work Environment I’ve Ever Experienced’

A former co-host of MSNBC’s Joy Reid has come forward alleging she created an unbearably toxic work environment and once threatened him with physical violence over ten years ago.

“Andre Eggelletion, former lead host of the [Wake Up South Florida] morning show with Reid, recently spoke out about her for the first time in more than a decade, saying Reid created “the most toxic work environment I’ve ever experienced” and threatened him with violence,” reports Fox News.

“It was a very unhealthy work environment because of her attitude. She attacked me on a constant basis while I was there. I was even once threatened with physical violence during a break with her,” Eggelletion told Fox News, who said the incident arose after Reid protested covering an unspecified news report.

“There was a dispute over it and I told her, ‘Go ahead and call the manager’,” Eggelletion said.

Reid allegedly shot back, “If you ever speak to me like that again I’m coming over there and it’s gonna be me and you.”

Lee Michaels, Syndication One’s national program director, recalls bringing the incident up to management, which led to a sit-down between Reid and her bosses.

“I talked to the general manager and I told him this has to be dealt with in a very firm manner because it was inappropriate and it just can’t be tolerated,” says Michaels.

“Y’all want me to be his friend. I don’t want to be his motherf*cking friend,” Reid is reported to have said after management attempted to smooth things out between her and Eggelletion.
MSNBC has yet to weigh in on the latest controversy surrounding the AM Joy host.

MSNBC issued a statement last Friday absolving Reid of writing “hateful” blog posts — and failed to address the FBI investigation that the host claimed to have initiated in April while blaming hackers for writing anti-Semitic, homophobic, and conspiratorial musings on her old website, The Reid Report.

“Some of the things written by Joy on her old blog are obviously hateful and hurtful,” MSNBC said in a statement.

“They are not reflective of the colleague and friend we have known at MSNBC for the past seven years. Joy has apologized publically and privately and said she has grown and evolved in the many years since, and we know this to be true.”

The statement followed Reid’s statement in which she apologized for old blog posts featuring 9/11 conspiracy theories,and a photoshopped photograph of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) depicted as the Virginia Tech shooter.

“While I published my blog, starting in 2005, I wrote thousands of posts in real time on the issues of the day,” Reid said in a statement.

“There are things I deeply regret and am embarrassed by, things I would have said differently and issues where my position has changed. Today I’m sincerely apologizing again.

“To be clear, I have the highest respect for Sen. McCain as a public servant and patriot and wish him and his family the best. I have reached out to Meghan McCain and will continue to do so. She is a former on-air colleague and I feel deeply for her and her family. I’ve also spoken openly about my evolution on many issues and know that I’m a better person today than I was over a decade ago. I am the daughter of immigrants and have worked to be a strong ally of these communities. There is no question in my mind that Al Qaeda perpetrated the 9/11 attacks or about Israel’s right to its sovereignty.”