Killer Mike Acknowledges He Was Wrong In Calling Out MSNBC’s Joy Reid For “H&M” Endorsement
Last month, Killer Mike was widely vilified for an interview he gave to the National Rifle Association’s online TV channel. Talking to NRA host Colion Noir, Mike defended the idea that black people should own guns and joked that he’d kick his kids out of his house if they participated in the school walk-outs in favor of gun control. One of the people who criticized Mike was MSNBC host Joy Reid. This past weekend, Mike tried to go after Reid, and things didn’t go so well for him.
After the first round of criticism of his NRA interview, Mike apologized on Twitter. He stood by his views about black gun ownership, but he also said that he wasn’t happy with how the NRA shared the interview just as the enormous March For Our Lives was happening in Washington and around the world. But he saw something on Reid’s Instagram that pissed him off, and he jumped into her Instagram comments to point it out. The problem was that he didn’t actually understand what she was saying.
In her Instagram photo, Reid posed with two other women. In the caption, she wrote that they “rocked the H&M”:
Mike took “H&M” as a reference to the department store. Early this year, H&M used an ad that featured a photo of a black child wearing a “coolest monkey in the jungle” hoodie. The company pulled the ad and apologized, and many artists cut ties with H&M immediately after. That’s the H&M that Mike thought Reid was talking about. It wasn’t.
In Reid’s Instagram comments, Mike wrote, “So Me doing an interview about black Gun ownership with the NRA is ‘bad’ but u promoting a company that tagged a Black Child a Monkey is ‘good, cool, acceptible.'”
Reid responded in her own comments:
“H&M” stands for “hair and makeup,” Mike. The two women beside me in this pic did my hair (H) and makeup (M) for a shoot. The blouse I’m wearing is by @norisolferrari and I doubt you can buy it in the retail chain you’re thinking of. (I got it from the designer via a stylist.) And here I was thinking you were an intellectual, and not just the guy who hangs out in the sunken place talking guns with the NRA’s “official black guy” who literally changed his last name to “black.”
In another comment, Reid added, “Also … who starts a feud in Instagram comments? Is your Twitter account locked?” So yeah, she got him. And Twitter noticed:
Lol: Killer Mike tried to shame Joy Ann Reid for wearing H&M but didnt understand she was not referring to the clothing store but actually "hair & makeup." pic.twitter.com/WhG3ibu6h9
— Astead (@AsteadWesley) April 8, 2018
Lots of people made jokes. It was a whole thing. And on Twitter, Mike acknowledged that he’d been wrong, thanking Reid for setting him straight. He didn’t say anything about hanging out in the Sunken Place:
Yup I got educated and I appreciated. I’m making sure I’m staying with the people tho no more outta line with me ♂️ https://t.co/Rgap2PoJGU
— Killer Mike (@KillerMike) April 8, 2018
To Be Unclear is to be u kind taught that by publicist @Farmer8J . My apologies for my misunderstanding @JoyAnnReid and I hope we get that Black Gun owner Minus the NRA interview. Love and Respect thanks for the correct ❤️
— Killer Mike (@KillerMike) April 8, 2018
Just Talked to your producer @JoyAnnReid looking forward to speaking about Black Gun Ownership. Thank u and love and Respect.
— Killer Mike (@KillerMike) April 8, 2018
So egg on my face ♂️and all I’m happy that the convo on #BlackGunOwnerShip will happen. Thank u @JoyAnnReid for “getting me together” on H&M and making sure this important convo can be had on an acceptable platform. ❤️✊
— Killer Mike (@KillerMike) April 8, 2018