Joy Reid says she owes a lot to her glam squad — which briefly included Tamron Hall in a supporting role!
The former MSNBC host was honored at “The View” hair stylist Derick Monroe’s third annual “Behind the Scenes Beauty Day Soirée,” and she opened up about the beauty challenges she faced during her early days at the ex-NBC cable network. Reid revealed she didn’t have a team who understood black haircare and skincare, which left her in tears because “my image was less than it should’ve been,” she said.
“I walked into a media world that did not see me…. I was being damaged. Not only was my image less than it should’ve been, I was spending so much money to repair the damage that was being done to my hair, my face, my body, by people, who did not know,” she said.
Reid added her appearance led her to second guess being a television broadcaster. “I was crying. I didn’t want to be on TV because I didn’t look good and I didn’t feel good about myself trying to just tell the truth and just do my job as a journalist,” she said.
Reid credited Tamron Hall, who was a host at “Today” at the time, for advocating for her with the brass to bring in a team who understood the nuance of skin complexion and textured hair.
Reid said [Hall] marched into her boss’s office and said, “This is unacceptable. This sister deserves better than this, and this has to change.’”
“There were no black hair and makeup people in the studio at MSNBC. Not one! And overtime, thank God I actually was good at my job and I developed enough authority to be able to curate my own hair and makeup team,” Reid said.
Reid, now an indie-journalists with her own daily YouTube show, thanked her entire glam squad and added the move allowed her to ensure that “not only myself, but my guests – because I was very intentional about having diverse guests, who were black and brown, Latina, who were AAPI – who were of all shapes and shades and sizes, and I wanted them all to look beautiful, because it’s a visual media… so, as you were speaking, people could see and hear you,” she said.
She told Page Six that while her speech focused on the teams she helped build at MSNBC, “I also owe a huge thanks to Johnny Wright who is one of those friends who gives you confidence, love and a great do!” (Wright is responsible for Hall’s tresses and was former FLOTUS Michelle Obama’s hairstylist when she was in the White House).
Monroe, who also hosts and produces the YouTube series “Behind the Scenes Beauty,” honored Rihanna’s go-to hairstylist, Ursula Stephen, Oprah’s main makeup artist, Derrick Rutledge, Oscar-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell, and Carol’s Daughter founder Lisa Price, in addition to Reid.