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Megan Kelly Fired From NBC After Blackface Controversy

TMZ is reporting that TODAY show host Megyn Kelly, formerly of Fox News, has been let go after her remarks about blackface earlier this week.
Megyn Kelly

TMZ is reporting that TODAY show host Megyn Kelly, formerly of Fox News, has been let go after her remarks about blackface earlier this week.

“Megyn Kelly Today” aired a repeat on Thursday morning, 2 days after she uncorked the absurd comment that it’s okay to wear blackface at Halloween. Sources connected to the network tell us unless a Hail Mary is thrown and caught at some point today … Megyn is gone for good.

The split with NBC comes the day after Megyn’s emotional on-air apology where she insisted she’d learned a lesson due to the backlash.

The mea culpa was clearly a case of too little, too late for the Peacock … which, to be honest, had issues with Megyn’s show even before the blackface blowup. Translation: the ratings were terrible. They’d dropped more than 30 percent, year-to-year, in her time slot.

TMZ goes on to say that her co-workers apparently ‘hated’ being on-air with her.

During coverage of Dr. Christine Ford’s testimony, for example, Kelly was part of a panel with NBC veterans Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd.

Kelly’s blunt, overtly conservative style was so off-putting, Mitchell left the panel before the segment was over.

I can admit to watching her morning show several times, but it was painful. Morning ‘light fare’ doesn’t suit Kelly at all.

According to The Daily Mail, Kelly apparently has a “no-break” deal with NBC which means she will walk away with a payout of $69 million.

Kelly’s talent agency, CAA, has also dropped her as well.

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Megyn Kelly Steps In It Over Blackface, Don Lemon Calls Her Out, Kelly Apologizes

Megyn Kelly of The Today Show

Today Show host Megan Kelly got into hot water yesterday when she questioned why blackface wasn’t ok for Halloween?

Seriously?

During a round-table conversation about Halloween costumes, Kelly said that blackface was, “OK when I was a kid as long as you were dressing like a character,” and said she doubted whether blackface was actually racist.

“What is racist?” she asked. “Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween.”

Umm, yeah. You do.

Kelly sent a memo to staffers at NBC apologizing for her lack of understanding:

When we had the roundtable discussion earlier today about the controversy of making your face look like a different race as part of a Halloween costume, I suggested that this seemed okay if done as part of this holiday where people have the chance to make themselves look like others. The iconic Diana Ross came up as an example. To me, I thought, why would it be controversial for someone dressing up asDiana Ross to make herself look like this amazing woman as a way of honoring and respecting her?

I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry. The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep.

I’ve never been a “pc” kind of person — but I understand that we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age. Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year.

Last night, on CNN, hosts Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon discussed the debacle. Lemon came straight out of the gate with a truth bomb saying, “Megyn is 47 years old, she’s our age, there has never been a time in her 47 years that blackface has been acceptable.”

Today, Kelly began her show with an apology:

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Megyn Kelly: I Know Women Complained About Bill O’Reilly At Fox News Because I Complained About Him

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News star, told her Megyn Kelly Today audience on NBC that while Fox News Corp. promised many that the work environment for female workers would improve after ousting network head Roger Ailes, and hosts Bill O’Reilly & Eric Bolling, no real change has happened.

In an emotional address, Kelly confirmed to her viewers, “O’Reilly’s suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false. I know because I complained.”

Kelly also shared that victims are often bullied into silence through “fear of public shaming, including through the media.” She named names and pointed fingers at Irena Briganti, Fox’s media relations chief, who she says “is known for her vindictiveness.”

“To this day [Briganti] pushes negative articles on certain Ailes accusers like the one you are looking at right now,” Kelly said.

Watch below.

Kelly’s monologue comes on the heels of a bombshell report in the New York Times which revealed that O’Reilly paid a $32 million settlement to one woman, Lis Wiehl, just before Fox News resigned him to a huge new contract. Fox News was aware of the basic terms of the settlement, if not the exact amount.

Speaking on Glenn Beck’s radio show today, Bill O’Reilly proclaimed he’s being attacked for political purposes and that it’s been a “horror show” for him and his family.

This past weekend, The New York Times reported that O’Reilly agreed to a $32 million settlement to a former legal analyst who had accused O’Reilly of harassment.

As has been said elsewhere – no one pays $32 million over false allegations.

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UPDATED: Megyn Kelly Asks A Fan If “Will & Grace” Turned Him Gay

This article has been updated since it’s original posting.

Monday saw the launch of Megyn Kelly’s Today Show and it seems she’s going to need some time to find her “light-hearted morning show” banter.

Speaking with the cast of Will & Grace, the former Fox News host introduced a superfan of the iconic 90s sitcom, Russel Turner, from the audience.

Things got a bit awkward from the get-go.

“Is it true that you became a lawyer—and you became gay—because of Will?” Kelly asked the excited Turner.

Fortunately, Turner was quick on the fly: “I look at Will Truman, I’m like, ‘He has it made.’ Lawyer, best apartment in New York, and gay? Come on, trifecta.”

After surprising Turner with tickets to Los Angeles to a taping and backstage tour of Will & Grace, Kelly closed out the segment with another graceless turn of phrase: “I don’t know about the lawyer thing, but I think the Will & Grace thing and the gay thing is going to work out great!”

UPDATE: Debra Messing took to her Instagram afterwards to say “Honestly I didn’t know it was MK until that morning. The itinerary just said Today show appearance. Regret going on. Dismayed by her comments.”

She later deleted that comment but several folks screen-capped it.

Click to enlarge

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Ellen DeGeneres: “Trump Is Dividing Us All And I Just Don’t Want Him On My Show”

Megyn Kelly (L) and Ellen DeGeneres (R)

Donald Trump will not be sitting for a chat on ELLEN – this we now know for sure.

Speaking with Megyn Kelly in advance of her new morning talk show Megyn Kelly Today, DeGeneres asked if she would want to interview Trump on her new talk show.

“I would not say no to the sitting president of the United States,” Kelly answered. “Would you?”

“Yeah,” DeGeneres said to a roar of applause. “He is who he is and he has enough attention and he has his Twitter account and he has ways to get his message across. There’s nothing that I’m going to say to him that’s going to change him.”

“I don’t want to give him a platform because it validates him and for me to have someone on the show I have to at least admire them in some way. And I can’t have someone that I feel is not only dangerous for the country and for me personally as a gay woman but to the world. He is dividing all of us and I just don’t want him on my show,” DeGeneres added.

During her time on the air, DeGeneres has hosted U.S. presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush on her show.

Watch below.

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News Round-Up: June 16, 2017

Ignacio Pérez Rey via Instagram

• Ignacio Pérez Rey already has the jump on the weekend. #TGIF

• Big deal – Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.

• Virulently anti-LGBT Rep. Steve Scalise owes his life to out and proud Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, who took down Scalise’s shooter.

• Info Wars nut Alex Jones says he secretly recorded his full pre-interview with Megyn Kelly, and has released it in an attempt to embarrass the former Fox News host. In the recording, she promises no “gotcha” questions and fawns over Jones saying she finds him “fascinating.” Jones says he also recorded the full four hour interview and will release that if he thinks Kelly’s upcoming Sunday night airing distorts his statements.

• President Trump has appointed his son’s wedding planner to run the Department of Housing Urban Development Region II, which includes New York. In case you’re wondering – no, she has absolutely no experience in housing, and according to reports she lied about having a law degree.

• Vice President Pence lawyers up as the current special counsel investigation widens it’s scope.

• Expect to hear Grammy®-nominated recording artist Audien and acclaimed DJ/producer 3LAU play their new collaboration, the haunting new single “Hot Water”  this weekend at EDC 2017 in Las Vegas. Listen below.

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Megyn Kelly Gets Tepid Reviews For Putin Interview

While I’m sure she got the ratings she wanted out of her debut on NBC last night, what Megyn Kelly didn’t get was anything of substance out of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

I’ll admit she did seem to ask the right questions, but got no where as Putin was very much in control of the interview throughout. She never seemed to have the right followup question ready, and Putin made sure to ridicule the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

“For me, this is just amazing. You created a sensation out of nothing,” Putin said. “And out of this sensation, you turned it into a weapon of war against the current president. Well, this is, you know, you’re just, you people are so creative over there. Good job. Your lives must be boring.”

Additionally, there were no questions regarding the rounding up and torture of gay men in Chechnya.

Watch the full interview below.

Just some of the reaction from Twitter:

Another cringe-worthy moment was when Kelly asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he was on Twitter – he has over 30 million followers. She didn’t think to look that up?

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News Round-Up: January 5, 2017

Some news items you may have missed:

• Wild and woofy Prince Harry covers Town & Country for the magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors” issue for his work on behalf of wild animals in Africa.

• Former American Idol contestant Bo Bice literally cries over being called “white boy” at a Georgia Popeye’s Fried Chicken restaurant. Seriously?

• More than 50 Electoral College voters were sat illegally which could delay ratifying Donald Trump’s election results.

• Just a day after Megyn Kelly announced her move to NBC News, former Fox News host Greta Van Susteren shares that she is heading to MSNBC to head up a new 6PM show, For The Record with Greta Van Susteren.

• British Prime Minister Theresa May has sent two senior aides on a quiet mission to attempt to improve her already frosty relationship with Donald Trump.

• But enough about “frosty” subjects, let’s take a look at these hottie Australian firefighters 🙂

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Megyn Kelly’s New Daily NBC Show To Take Over 3rd Hour Of The TODAY Show

More details about the new Megyn Kelly deal at NBC News:

It looks like Kelly will be taking over the 9AM hour of The TODAY Show, settling in between the highly rated 7-9AM block, hosted by Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie, and the fun & fluffy 10AM slot hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb.

Also – the new show will be Kelly-branded, not a component of the TODAY Show banner.

Via BroadcastingCable.com:

A network source said that timing on everything involving Kelly is still up in the air, including when she will join NBC News and when her new shows will debut. Speaking Tuesday evening on her Fox News Channel show, The Kelly File, Kelly said her last show would air Friday. Her contract with Fox News runs through July though, so she may not be able to officially join NBC News until that contract expires.

Besides hosting her own daytime program, Kelly also will anchor a Sunday night news magazine and jump in on breaking news and political stories.

The 9 a.m. hour of Today has been a trouble spot for NBC. It tries to be a take on the panel talk show, with Al Roker and Tamron Hall leading a discussion of pop culture and light news with multiple hosts. Last August, the hour suffered a further setback when Today brought on Billy Bush to lead the hour, and soon Bush and Roker were clashing on air about Bush’s kid-gloves interview of Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. Bush was then fired in October after video leaked of him and now-President-elect Donald Trump speaking lewdly about women.

“After more than a dozen years at Fox News, I have decided to pursue a new challenge …. I’ll be leaving Fox News at the week’s end and starting a new adventure, joining the journalists at NBC News, who I deeply admire,” said Kelly on her show.

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Megyn Kelly Leaves Fox News For NBC News

Megyn Kelly

The New York Times is reporting that Megyn Kelly, 12 year veteran host of Fox News and one of the network’s biggest stars, has decided to jump ship and head to NBC News:

The NBC News chairman, Andrew Lack, wooed Ms. Kelly away from Fox News by offering her a triple role in which she will host her own daytime news and discussion program, anchor an in-depth Sunday night news show and take regular part in the network’s special political programming and other big-event coverage.

The move will herald a seismic shift in the cable news landscape, where Ms. Kelly had become the second-most watched host — after Bill O’Reilly of Fox News — and often helped define the national political debate, especially over the last year as Donald J. Trump regularly attacked her, at times in viciously personal terms.

Ms. Kelly’s departure would upend Fox News’s vaunted prime-time lineup and inject a new dose of tumult just a few months after the departure of the network’s powerful founding chairman, Roger Ailes, who was ousted after several women made allegations that he sexually harassed them.

Note how she includes the word “journalists” when describing the folks at NBC News.