William B. Kerr 
As the scene gets hotter and hotter around the topic of sexual misconduct and assaults, some people are getting caught in the crossfire in unexpected ways. MSNBC talk show host Chris Matthews just got hit by the leak of a tape on which he can be heard joking about rape.
Specifically, he made references to a “Bill Cosby pill” that he had brought with him but could not find, and wanted to “have some of the queen’s waters.” It is worth noting that the staff working with Matthews did not seem to share his sense of humor, as the environment around him appeared tense and awkward.
Matthews has responded to the new controversy, explaining that he had made a joke in poor taste at the height of the Cosby scandal, and apologized for his actions. It did appear like he was sincere in his apology, but it is hard to tell nowadays with everyone trying to cover themselves as much as possible with the massive allegations flying around.
The incident occurred in 2016 before the taping of an interview with Hillary Clinton in Iowa for Hardball with Chris Matthews. This was during the Democratic primary where Mrs. Clinton was focused on her main challenger Bernie Sanders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwNO8IuMJYQ
And while things might end up okay for Matthews, the same cannot be said about Mr. Cosby, who is still suffering severely from the actions he was accused of. However, even in that case, it is still not okay to joke at the expense of those who have been affected, even when the joke might be aimed at the person committing the acts.
To his credit, Matthews admitted that the heinous nature of the allegations against Cosby does not make it okay to joke around on that topic, and it is not a valid excuse for his own words.