Killer Mike Apologized After Insulting MSNBC Host Joy Ann Reid Over A Misunderstanding

It’s entirely understandable that Killer Mike would be a little raw after the beating his reputation took on the internet last month over the interview he sat for with NRA TV’s Colion Noir. While the Run The Jewels rapper’s goal of advocating for Black gun ownership was swallowed up by the controversy of the NRA’s release of a heavily edited clip during the March For Our Lives, Mike himself was excoriated by former supporters on Twitter for comments that the timing of the release rendered pretty unseemly.

However, when the outspoken gun rights advocate’s lingering sensitivity nudged him to lash out in MSNBC host Joy Ann Reid’s Instagram comments thanks to a misunderstood term in the caption of a recent photo, he may have bitten off more than he could chew. In the photo, Reid posed for a selfie with a pair of colleagues, acknowledging the hard work they put in on her “H&M”: “And not to be outdone… @glamluxxe and @savvychicz, who rocked the H&M for our Elgin Baylor shoot!”

Mike, unfortunately, took “H&M” not as the reference to “hair and makeup” that Reid intended, but instead to the fast fashion brand that itself landed in hot water recently over an ad that many took offense to. Many of the brand’s endorsers pulled their support after an ad featuring a Black boy in a hoodie reading “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle” was taken as racially insensitive. Mike jumped at the chance to question Reid’s intentions, writing, “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.’”

Of course, Reid is no stranger to debate thanks to the nature of her show on MSNBC, responding:

“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.”

After Twitter users screenshotted the exchange, it became a viral moment of its own on the popular social site, with many users ridiculing Killer Mike for another social media faux pas. For his part, Mike issued what appeared to be a sincere mea culpa, offering that he “got educated” and “appreciated” being set straight. He also noted that he would be open to the prospect of appearing on Reid’s show in the future for a real discussion of what 2nd Amendment rights would mean in terms of Black ownership: “Just Talked to your producer @JoyAnnReid looking forward to speaking about Black Gun Ownership. Thank u and love and Respect.”