Is Joy Reid okay?

From the look of things, obviously not. The MSNBC host has built a career on outrage and hyperbole, but her recent antics suggest something far more unhinged. In a bold attempt to deflect criticism over her apparent adoption of President Trump’s signature look, Reid chose to shave her head.

Neil deGrasse Tyson wrestled in college; he is intimately familiar with the profound physical differences between the two sexes.

She thought this move would silence her critics. Spoiler alert: It didn’t.

Instead, it sparked laughter, not at her critics but squarely at her. A middle-aged woman shaving her head in a fit of defiance doesn’t scream empowerment. It screams instability.

Turkey terror

More recently, Reid released a pre-Thanksgiving video warning that some Americans might not feel "safe" around their MAGA relatives. To bolster her point, she hosted an equally unhinged Yale psychiatrist who suggested that LGBTQ+ individuals should avoid conservative family members entirely. This is not reasonable advice. But reason and Reid are estranged bedfellows. They parted ways many moons ago.

The 55-year-old is a case study in what happens when someone builds her platform not on ideas but on the fragile foundation of identity politics and moral posturing. Reid's critics don’t need to discredit her; she does that all on her own. In trying to be everything to everyone on the left, she’s become a caricature of modern media: loud, hollow, and entirely insufferable.

Skeletons in her closet

Reid frequently lectures viewers on inclusion, tolerance, and justice, casting herself as a champion of the left’s ideals. But, I ask, are her views genuine or merely a theatrical performance?

Reid’s relentless grandstanding feels more like an elaborate deflection from her own controversial past — a past that is completely at odds with the persona she now projects.

In 2018, when homophobic blog posts from her early career resurfaced, she initially apologized, admitting to some of the commentary. But when more posts emerged, Reid’s story shifted dramatically.

Suddenly, she claimed her blog had been hacked years earlier, a defense that crumbled under scrutiny. The notion that a hacker planted posts in real time, matching her public commentary, defied logic. Even her cybersecurity consultant admitted that the evidence failed to support her claims. In other words, Reid was clearly lying.

Despite this troubling history, the pundit turned activist has positioned herself as a self-appointed arbiter of morality, eager to denounce others while her own record remains anything but spotless. Of course, it’s possible that she’s undergone a complete transformation and truly become the progressive warrior she now claims to be. But the sheer insanity of her rhetoric suggests something else: specifically, overcompensation.

Reid’s crusade against conservatives feels less like conviction and more like a desperate bid to rewrite her narrative, to drown out the sins of her past with louder, more righteous indignation.

Beam him up

Reid is not alone in her reinvention. Consider Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Once a respected figure in science and pop culture, Tyson has devolved into a farcical self-parody. He’s not just woke. He’s hyperwoke.

The astrophysicist’s shift from measured reason to full-throated wokeness didn’t happen by accident.

In 2019, four women accused him of sexual misconduct, a controversy that could have ended his career (four seems like a lot). Instead of addressing the allegations head-on, Tyson pivoted. Overnight, a man who once prided himself on logic became one of the loudest proponents of the woke agenda, particularly when it came to the most contentious of topics.

Yes, that’s right: trans athletes in women’s sports.

Tyson, supposedly a man of science, has publicly argued that it’s perfectly acceptable for biological men to compete against actual women.

One assumes he doesn’t actually believe this. Tyson wrestled in college; he is intimately familiar with the profound physical differences between the two sexes. The peddler of bad ideas and even worse ties may be many things, but stupid isn’t one of them — though you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

His recent appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher" was a master class in self-sabotage. When Maher, who oscillates wildly between bouts of wokeness and moments of clarity, confronted him on the undeniable physical advantages men have over women in sports, Tyson played dumb. Rather than being honest, he leaned on smug quips and feeble attempts at humor.

The performance flopped, laying bare not just the weakness of his argument but the pathetic pandering driving it.

Spineless signaling

Reid and Tyson are two sides of the same coin, figures who have sacrificed authenticity to appease an audience hungry for performative contrition.

They are not champions of progress; they are cowards and phonies. Too afraid to stand by their own convictions, they embody the spinelessness that comes with prioritizing approval over integrity. They exemplify self-preservation, willing to say or do whatever it takes to sustain their increasingly meaningless careers.

When they look in the mirror, one wonders whether they smile or whether tears of shame silently stream down their cheeks. Only they can answer this.

What is indisputable, however, is the fact that both Reid and Tyson have traded integrity for applause, hoping that louder declarations of virtue will obscure their past controversies. It won’t. It can’t. We all see them for what they truly are.