Megyn Kelly and NBC appear poised to part ways as reports of the demise of her morning show continue to crystallize in the wake of her “blackface” controversy.
CNN reports that Kelly and executives at the news division are negotiating the terms of her exit. Meanwhile, she has been removed from the morning lineup and “Megyn Kelly Today” has been canceled. CNN cites sources confirming that Kelly will not be returning to the morning lineup.
“There had been speculation that she would remain with the network in a lesser role — but the sources said that’s not happening,” CNN reports. “Earlier on Thursday, when multiple news outlets reported that Kelly is leaving NBC altogether, Kelly’s spokesman Davidson Goldin responded by saying that NBC has not been in touch with Kelly or her representatives.
“Later in the day, though, an NBC official got in touch with Kelly’s camp. This is a signal that negotiations are under way.”
The report notes that Kelly’s NBC contract is said to be worth $23 million a year for three years.
Talks at NBC about dumping Kelly’s 9 a.m. show were reportedly under way before her latest controversy. “But the controversy sealed her fate, according to two people familiar with the matter,” CNN reports.
#LOCKHERUP
#YOUCRAY
Retrograde political correctness run amok!
First, I am not a Megan Kelly fan.
In a world where the need for tolerance is continually shouted from the mountain tops, I think a little tolerance is called for here. All Megan Kelly did was show her ignorance. Unless you are a baby boomer, a media student / scholar or a person of color most people do not know all of the negative connotations associated with Black-Face.
I saw the segment where Megan Kelly made her unfortunate remarks. I did not see a woman who was spouting hurtful ideas out of malice, I saw a person who while trying to make a statement about some ridiculous rules meant to keep offending Halloween costumes, (a cowboy costume is offensive, really?) out of public view, and went over the line. I do believe her apology was sincere.
When did TV personalities become all knowing, politically correct robots who never make a mistake. You do not fire a person for making a mistake where true remorse was expressed. Everyone should be given the chance to learn from their mistakes and become better informed people.
Her firing was not about her “blackface” comment, it was mainly about ratings. The Sunday show flopped and “Megyn Kelly Today” severely underperformed the program she replaced. Of course, the $10,000,000 studio they built and the outside staff they had to hire (unlike the show she replaced done with studio space and crew from “Today’s” first 2 hours) was a huge drain of NBC’s resources. This was never going to work – hiring high profile talent so the other guy doesn’t get them. NBC should have learned this lesson when they tried to undermine GMA’s ratings by hiring away their weather guy (Sam Champion) and Josh Elliott.
Steve is right. NBC is just taking this opportunity to get out of the contract the best way they can and save some money. Fox knew what she was worth. She is a news reader and commentator that needs a script and prompter. She can’t be in a position to ad lib. This was displayed numerous times during her time on NBC.