Female journalist recalls her "sexist run-in" with Chris Matthews

GQ

Inspired by Matthews' allegedly sexist treatment of Elizabeth Warren after this week's debate, GQ political columnist and frequent MSNBC guest Laura Bassett wrote about her experiences with the Hardball host. "In 2017, I wrote a personal essay about a much older, married cable news host who inappropriately flirted with me in the makeup room a few times before we went live on his show, making me noticeably uncomfortable on air," writes Bassett. "I was afraid to name him at the time for fear of retaliation from the network; I’m not anymore. It was Chris Matthews. 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.' Another time, he stood between me and the mirror and complimented the red dress I was wearing for the segment. 'You going out tonight?' he asked. I said I didn’t know, and he said—again to the makeup artist—'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.' Again—Matthews was never my boss. I’m pretty sure that behavior doesn’t rise to the level of illegal sexual harassment. But it undermined my ability to do my job well. And after I published a story about it, even though I didn’t name him, dozens of people reached out to say they knew exactly who it was. Many had similar stories." Matthews, she adds, "frequently demeans women guests with objectifying and belittling comments, both on and off air." MSNBC has yet to respond to Bassett's accusation.