Megyn Marie Kelly is an American lawyer and is well known to the public as a journalist and show anchor. She hosted Fox News from 2014-2017.
During her stint at FOX News, she was co-host of American Newsroom with Bill Hemmer. The two also hosted the New Year’s Eve specials of FOX Network from 2012-2017. She later hosted her own show called America Live which was a consistent ratings drawer during its time slot. She later on became one of FOX’ most prolific news anchors. She likewise hosted The Kelly File from October 2013 to January 2017 and ws another ratings drawer for FOX.
Time Magazine included her in their list of the 100 most influential people of 2014.
Kelly was a prominent moderator during the presidential debates of 2016. She earned the ire of then presidential candidate Donald Trump for asking him about the insulting names that he had called women in the past. She also criticized the former president regarding his sexual comments in a 2005 audio recording which generated widespread attention in various social media platforms.
Kelly also became one of the very few American correspondents to sit in an interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Kelly interviewed Putin for her show Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly on June 4, 2017.
Kelly later on transferred to NBC where she was host of NBC News from 2017 to 2018. In September 2017, she also began hosting Megyn Kelly Today - the third hour of the morning show Today. She was also a correspondent for major news events and political coverage. She was earning anywhere between $15-20 million during her stint with NBC.
Megyn Kelly was shown the exit door at NBC after she made comments about blackface being acceptable during Halloween.
During her morning show at NBC, Kelly mentioned that blackface was acceptable as part of a Halloween costume, saying that “it was “OK when I was a kid as long as you were dressing like a character.”
In essence, Kelly was merely recollecting a childhood memory, with no intention to insult people of color. However, the backlash resulting from her statements was quick and unforgiving. Immediately apologizing to the staff of Today, she also publicly apologized on her show, saying:
“I want to begin with two words: I’m sorry. I defended the idea [of blackface], saying that as long it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, that it seemed OK. Well, I was wrong, and I am sorry.”
Despite Kelly’s apology, NBC decided to just air reruns of her show for the rest of that week.
Three days after her remarks about blackface, NBC announced that it was cancelling her morning show. She was never seen in the network again and was given a very brief and unceremonious exit, a stark contrast from the jubilation and excitement that was very palpable when she transferred to the network in early 2017.
Kelly was also dropped by her talent agency CAA, which was also managing other NBC talents and executives. She immediately signed to a different agency, UTA, and hired the services of lawyer Bryan Freedman who was an entertainment attorney.
Andrew Lack, or Andy Lack, is a film and television executive who was primarily responsible for Megan Kelly’s sudden firing and departure from NBC. He was the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC from 2015 until his own exit in 2020. He was also the former chairman and CEO of Bloomberg Media Group as well as chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. He was also the former Chief Operating Officer of NBC Universal.
Lack was instrumental to Kelly’s transfer at NBC after 12 years with FOX. In a cruel twist of fate and ill will, he was also responsible for having Kelly fired just three days after she made, and apologized for, those controversial remarks about blackface.
“‘Megyn Kelly Today’ is not returning,” Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other TODAY co-anchors,” according to an NBC statement. In a town hall meeting with NBC staff, Lack was quoted to have said, “There is no other way to put this, but I condemn those remarks.”
Lack’s condemnation and withdrawal of support became the final straw and sealed Kelly’s doom with NBC.
However, does Lack even have the moral ascendancy to condemn Kelly for her remarks?
In 2019, multi-awarded investigative journalist Ronan Farrow reported that Lack dismissed an HR complaint of rape against Today anchor Matt Lauer in 2014. Despite serious allegations and a formal complaint against the host, Matt stayed on as host until his departure in 2017. Farrow likewise revealed that Lack had instructed Richard Greenberg to make haste on the reports that Farrow conducted against Harvey Weinstein and his sexual abuse charges. There were no follow ups made to go deep on the Harvey Weinstein case because Lack had deliberately instructed Greenberg to scuttle it.
Did Andy Lack fire Megyn to try to whitewash himself for covering up for Harvey Weinstein?
Karma would likewise catch up on Lack as he was later fired by NBC in 2020 because of serious backlash over his role in silencing Farrow’s report about Weinstein.
Since her departure from NBC, Megan Kelly has since gone independent and has launched her own media company called Devil May Care Media. The company is currently active in broadcasting podcasts that talk about the latest news as well as discuss current events, legal, social, and cultural issues. The first podcast, aptly titled The Megyn Kelly Show, debuted last September 28.
Catch The Megyn Kelly Show on various platforms. It is primarily available as a podcast on Spotify and Apple, airing regular episodes every 3-4 days. Viewers may also catch many of Kelly’s viewpoints on current issues on her social media accounts - particularly Twitter. Snippets of her more recent reactions to current events and issues are also found on Youtube.
Kelly’s illustrious and celebrated career in news and broadcasting cannot be outshone by her lack of mainstream media presence. A journalist of her calibre will always find a way to be seen and heard.
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