De Blasio Demands Tabloids Apologize For Articles About Wife Chirlane McCray
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday was demanding a pair of city newspapers apologize for their characterizations of his wife's comments on motherhood.
De Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, told New York magazine in an interview published Sunday that she struggled adjusting to motherhood.
She wrote it took her a while to feel comfortable with being a mother after the couple had their first child, daughter Chiara.
Mayor Bill De Blasio Demands Tabloids Apologize For Articles About Wife Chirlane McCray
As CBS 2's Jessica Schneider reported, the headlines in subsequent issues of the New York Post and Daily News did not mince words.
The New York Post's front page Monday ran a photo of McCray with the words "I was a bad mom.''
Its story claimed McCrary's comments are "bound to horrify most moms."
The New York Daily News' front-page headline read, "Didn't want to be a mom."
De Blasio on Monday said the tabloids' stories were inaccurate. He called the coverage "deeply disturbing" and "offensive," WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
"I think both the Post and the Daily News owe Chirlane an apology," de Blasio said. "I think they owe all of us an apology for absolutely misrepresenting what she said and for caricaturing a reality that I think so many women face.
"I love my wife very deeply. She is an extraordinary mother. She always has been. She very much wanted to have children, which is evident in the New York magazine article."
In the New York Magazine article, McCray spoke about her challenges becoming a first-time mother,
"I was 40 years old. I had a life. Especially with Chiara—will we feel guilt forever more? Of course, yes," McCray was quoted in the article by Lisa Miller. "But the truth is, I could not spend every day with her. I didn't want to do that. I looked for all kinds of reason not to do it. I love her. I have thousands of photos of her—every 1-month birthday, 2-month birthday. But I've been working since I was 14, and that part of me is me. It took a long time for me to get into 'I'm taking care of kids,' and what that means."
All the members of the de Blasio family has pushed their private lives into the public – most recently when Chiara, now 19, talked about her depression and substance abuse.
But some said the New York Post and Daily News headlines crossed the line.
"I think that branding somebody a bad mom, because they're willing to admit things are not perfect all the time, is kind of ridiculous," said Christina Falzano of Park Slope, Brooklyn. "I think that we're all doing the best we can."
"It's really sad, you know, because she spoke the truth, and they took it and stretched it out and made it look bad – especially being a black woman," said Aaron Nickey of West Farms, the Bronx. But when asked if an apology was warranted, he replied, "The Post is not going to give an apology."
The Daily News and Post have not responded to requests for comment.
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