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Megyn Kelly will not return to her 9 a.m. program on NBC, the network said on Friday, as the beleaguered host remains in negotiations over a likely exit from the NBC airwaves.
Noah Oppenheim, the president of NBC News, delivered the news to the staff of “Megyn Kelly Today” shortly before the official announcement that the show had reached its end.
“Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other ‘Today’ co-anchors,” an NBC News spokeswoman said in a statement.
The cancellation came three days after Ms. Kelly suggested on the air that it was not inappropriate for white people to dress in blackface on Halloween. An online outcry sprang up after her remarks, and NBC News covered her on-air statements and their aftermath on “NBC Nightly News” and its morning franchise, the “Today” show.
Ms. Kelly’s status at NBC is now the subject of high-stakes discussions between her lawyer, the Los Angeles litigator Bryan Freedman, and the network’s executives.
“Megyn remains an employee of NBC News and discussions about next steps are continuing,” Mr. Freedman said in a statement on Friday.
Ms. Kelly is in the middle of a three-year, $69 million contract. A negotiated departure could include a substantial payout.
Ms. Kelly joined NBC News in 2017 after 12 years at the Fox News Channel, where she drew big ratings as a prime time anchor. At her new network home, she has clashed with colleagues and management while earning middling ratings for her morning show.
Her incendiary remarks on Tuesday were part of a round-table discussion of how “the costume police are cracking down” on Halloween costumes, as she put it.
“What is racist?” Ms. Kelly asked. “You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was O.K., as long as you were dressing up as a character.”
She went on to cite the example of Luann de Lesseps, a member of the cast of the Bravo reality show “The Real Housewives of New York,” who came under fire this year for dressing up as Diana Ross, complete with an outsize Afro wig. Ms. Kelly added that she found the criticism of the “Housewives” star perplexing.
Several hours after the broadcast, Ms. Kelly sent an apologetic email to NBC staff members.
“I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry,” she wrote. “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.”
She continued: “Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year. This is a time for more understanding, love, sensitivity and honor, and I want to be part of that.”
The email was not enough to placate her fellow “Today” hosts Al Roker and Craig Melvin, who denounced her remarks on blackface costumes in the early hours of Wednesday morning’s broadcast.
At 9 that morning Ms. Kelly went on the air with her future at the network in doubt. She looked into the camera and apologized at length. The studio audience gave her a standing ovation.
At a midday staff meeting on Wednesday, Andrew Lack, the chairman of NBC News, told employees that he condemned her comments and offered no praise for her attempts to apologize.
By Wednesday evening, Ms. Kelly had split with her agents at Creative Artists Agency. But she failed to find other representation when United Talent Agency declined to take her on as a client. Mr. Freedman, the litigator, is now handling negotiations.
Reruns of “Megyn Kelly Today” aired in place of live broadcasts on Thursday and Friday. At the close of Wednesday’s episode — which turned out to be the show’s finale — Ms. Kelly offered a cheery, if inadvertent, farewell.
“Have a great day, everybody!” she said, smiling. “We’ll see you tomorrow!”
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