MSNBC Flip-Flops, Rehires Contributor Sam Seder: ‘Sometimes You Just Get One Wrong’

MSNBC reversed course on Thursday, announced that it would rehire contributor Sam Seder just days after it had cut ties with him over a tweeted joke about Roman Polanski and rape from 2009.

“Sometimes you just get one wrong — and that’s what happened here,” network president Phil Griffin said in a remarkable act of contrition. “We made our initial decision for the right reasons — because we don’t consider rape to be a funny topic to be joked about.”

Griffin acknowledged the criticism that the network had received for its decision to cut ties with Seder — with many citing the role that pro-Trump journalist and activist Mike Cernovich played in publicizing Seder’s now-deleted tweet — factored into the reversal.