Political pundit Mark Halperin, whose career fell apart after several women came forward with sexual harassment allegations, is reportedly attempting a media comeback with the help of MSNBC “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski
Mr. Halperin left the public eye in October 2017 after female colleagues and subordinates said he groped them and committed other unwanted advances while at ABC News, resulting in his being fired from NBC and a Showtime network project, as well as losing book deals and TV pundit slots, including on “Morning Joe.”
However, Mr. Halperin is trying to pick up the pieces of his imploded career and looking to get back to work, according to a new report from The Daily Beast.
Mr. Scarborough and Ms. Brzezinski, who have stated they remain friends with Mr. Halperin, have allegedly been providing him both moral support and help with his career.
Multiple sources said the “Morning Joe” hosts attempted to collaborate with Mr. Halperin on an online exclusive analysis of the 2018 midterms.
The hosts did not request approval from MSNBC before they brought in Mr. Halperin, and the project was ultimately scrapped.
“Everybody was going ’WTF!’,” said one source.
“All parties, including Mark, decided not to move forward with the midterm project for a variety of reasons, including concerns by management that the online broadcast would detract from MSNBC’s coverage,” another source said.
He also appeared on CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s Sirius XM radio show where he said his “hundreds” of conversations with women have made him realize how his workplace sexual harassment “hurt” people.
“I’d like to take the opportunity to again apologize to the women that I mistreated, who told their stories, and who were hurt by me,” he said, before moving into several other topics, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s controversy of unwanted touching.
Ms. Brzezinski allegedly blindsided MSNBC executives by having a segment dedicated to Mr. Halperin about “his own personal situations and the terrible mistakes that he has made and addressed them.”
MSNBC, Ms. Brzezinski and Mr. Scarborough all declined to comment.
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