Journalist Laura Bassett, who used to be a guest on MSNBC, claimed that Hardball host Chris Matthews’ “sexist” behavior “undermined” her job performance.
Bassett wrote in a column for GQ on Friday that Matthews’ sexist language and discussions of falling in love with her made it hard for her to do her job well.
“In 2017, I wrote about a cable news host being gross and inappropriate with me. I was afraid to name him at the time,” she tweeted on Friday. “I’m not anymore; it was Chris Matthews! And his sexist exchange with [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren this week inspired me to revisit those moments and name him”:
In 2017, I wrote about a cable news host being gross and inappropriate with me. I was afraid to name him at the time. I'm not anymore; it was Chris Matthews! And his sexist exchange with Warren this week inspired me to revisit those moments and name him https://t.co/oBWXXJDPhR
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) February 28, 2020
According to the GQ column, Bassett said she was scheduled to appear as a guest on Hardball in 2016 to discuss sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump.
She recalled Matthews sitting in the makeup chair next to her making comments such as, “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?”
Bassett laughed nervously while Matthews allegedly continued to make comments to the makeup artist.
“Keep putting makeup on her, I’ll fall in love with her,” Matthews allegedly said.
On a separate occasion, Matthews made another seemingly possessive comment about her makeup.
“Make sure you wipe this off her face after the show. We don’t make her up so some guy at a bar can look at her like this,” he told a makeup artist.
Matthews has also come under fire for his comments comparing Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) electoral victory in Nevada to the French Nazi invasion in 1940, with many calling for his resignation.
He later apologized for his comments in that situation.
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