Joy Reid slammed after sharing video claiming ‘Jingle Bells’ was written to mock Black people

MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS: Joy Reid is back in the crosshairs, this time over Christmas music. The former MSNBC host triggered a full-blown holiday culture war this week after sharing a video claiming America’s most beloved Christmas anthem, 'Jingle Bells', was originally written “to make fun of Black people.”

The clip, shared with her 1.3 million Instagram followers, shows a man in a Santa hat standing beside a historical plaque in Medford, Massachusetts, marking the spot where composer James Lord Pierpont is believed to have written the classic in 1850.

Taking off his hat in disgust, he declares that the familiar jingle hides an ugly past tied to minstrel shows and racist caricature — and that the song’s early performances featured White actors donning blackface.

Video claims ‘Jingle Bells’ was born from minstrelsy and racist tropes

In the video’s captions, Pierpont is described as a “racist Confederate soldier” who wrote 'The One Horse Open Sleigh' specifically for minstrel performances mocking Black people supposedly attempting to take part in winter activities. It further alleges that the cheerful line “laughing all the way” was “likely” a reference to a popular racist routine at the time called the “Laughing Darkie.”

The video also claims Pierpont was struggling financially when he composed the tune, only to later rebrand it as 'Jingle Bells' in 1859 — months before the Civil War - then allegedly abandon his family to join the Confederacy. According to the video, once in uniform, Pierpont wrote fight songs to “rouse men defending slavery.”

Reid’s endorsement of the clip quickly became the latest flashpoint in the ongoing annual holiday debate over whether certain Christmas staples are “problematic.”

Many slammed Reid with one X (formerly Twitter) user writing, "People should start blasting jingle bells all day long around Joyless Reid."

"Joy Reid’s 1.3 million followers track every racist account for scraps to feed their own race-obsessed hatred. Nothing is sacred; she’ll weaponize even jingle bells on a sleigh to inflame them. Her own first name must cause her endless sorrow," a person expressed. 

"Omg the mental gymnastics this requires is mind boggling! Believe it or not nobody cares if you’re black. This is a favorite and very well loved Christmas carol. As it should be," another tweet read. 

"God if I had just a nickel to everything she’s offended by I could retire," one more wrote. "She is trying her best to feel oppressed,” another remarked. 

Joy Reid’s history of controversies fuels the uproar

Reid, whose MSNBC show 'The ReidOut' was cancelled earlier this year after nearly five years on air, is no stranger to racial controversies. She famously pushed the false claim that President Donald Trump wanted “reparations for White people,” among other eyebrow-raising takes that repeatedly put her at odds with audiences across the political spectrum.

Her latest move, casting doubt on the innocence of 'Jingle Bells', has critics accusing her of trying to “ruin Christmas,” while supporters insist she’s simply highlighting overlooked history.

But Reid isn’t the first to spark a backlash over the song. A Council Rock Primary School in upstate New York previously banned 'Jingle Bells' from its annual holiday concert, citing concerns about its ties to blackface.

The entire controversy traces back to a 2017 academic article by Boston University professor Kyna Hamill, whose research suggested that 'Jingle Bells' had early connections to minstrel shows.

While Hamill has insisted her work was never meant to “cancel” the song, the interpretation has taken on a life of its own in political and cultural debates, and the video Reid shared appears to lean heavily on the most extreme versions of those claims.

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