It's been nearly two months since Matthews abruptly retired from his MSNBC show on March 2, three days after journalist Laura Bassett recalled a backstage sexually harassing encounter with the then-Hardball host. In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Matthews acknowledged his wrongdoing. “I didn’t argue about it, I didn’t deny it,” says Matthews. “I accepted the credibility of the complaint in the article. I didn’t want to challenge the person that made the complaint and wrote the article. I thought it was very credible and certainly within the person’s rights to write that article, of course. That was highly justified. Basically, as I said, to repeat myself, it’s inappropriate in the workplace to compliment somebody on their appearance, this is in the makeup chair, and I did it.”
TOPICS: Chris Matthews, MSNBC, Laura Bassett, Cable News, Sexual Misconduct