Fox News destroys Megyn Kelly long after leaving for NBC



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For 18 turbulent months at NBC, when Megyn Kelly stumbled, her former employer was hiding in the shadows – anxiously waiting for her to hit her when she was on the ground.

Shortly after Kelly's departure from her star-studded prime time at Fox News in early 2017, Fox News' notoriously ruthless communications and public relations arm began encouraging outside journalists to cover negative stories. about Kelly – a practice that continued until the "black face". "Comment that turned out to be his downfall.

Many sources told the Daily Beast that the top Fox had criticized Irena Briganti's team, suggesting that other media not only write about Kelly's "black-faced" but also about several others. missteps during his career on NBC.

According to two sources close to the situation, when Megyn Kelly today NBC, the Fox News communications device reported these numbers to reporters.

At the end of last year, Kelly suffered an online reaction for asking for a Will & Grace fan's he was influenced to become gay because of the show and his main character – and when Will & Grace Star Debra Messing later criticized Kelly – Fox. Public relations have been quietly relayed by the media.

Another example: Hollywood Reporter Journalist Jeremy Barr tweeted last week on Twitter that Fox PR had given him a "tip" to try to prevent him from reporting on a different story about a Fox News presenter, telling him that "I'm in trouble." rather, it should coverNBC / Megyn stuff"That was just starting to explode.

According to three people with direct knowledge, Briganti was deeply unhappy with Kelly, largely because she had blamed him privately for leaks that would have allowed Fox to serve as a catalyst to the former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, in the context of the sexual harassment scandal that ended his career.

Fox News said in the statement that the charges were "extremely wrong and obviously absurd".

He denied having urged journalists to jump on Kelly's diary Will & Grace blunder, saying that the blunder has created an "instant fire storm" that does not require any contribution from Fox. According to her, any conversation about Kelly's ratings would take place in the context where Fox was beating his show.

Regarding Barr's tweet, Fox said he had "misinterpreted" the exchange and that a public relations representative was saying "there was more news about the media to cover. Than the story he was pursuing.

"The Daily Beast is relying on outdated information from former employees," the statement said. "The public relations department here defends and protects the FOX News brand and all its talents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no war or resentment towards those who previously worked on the network, including Megyn. "

Fox said his public relations team was accused of the tactics employed by Briganti's predecessor, who left in 2013.

Yet last year, Kelly publicly accused Fox News of attacking him. During a segment on charges of sexual harassment, former Fox News presenter Bill O'Reilly, Kelly told NBC that Briganti was "known for his vindictiveness" and had purchased stories about alleged victims of crime. 'Wings.

"To this day, she pushes negative articles on some accusers of Wings, [including me]Kelly said.

A former senior employee of Fox said that Kelly was right.

"Megyn Kelly was one of the largest recipients of Fox News communications when she was working there. It was lit at the very moment she packed her bags for … the competition, "said the ex-staff member at the Daily Beast.

Those who are even familiar with the operation of the Fox News communication office know that this behavior is normal. In fact, the situation with Kelly was not the only time Fox News gave in to his own talent, current or former.

As previously reported by the Daily Beast, Kimberly Guilfoyle, former Fox presenter, was the subject of a campaign of whispering – led by her opponents at Fox – following her exit from the network in July. Sources close to the situation revealed that Fox's enemies in Guilfoyle had tried, during tense exit negotiations, to sow negative stories about him, accusing him of misbehavior in the workplace, including included extremely controversial allegations.

Another of these salacious stories is Guilfoyle's alleged abuse of the network's makeup staff. The Daily Beast learned that this allegation of misconduct involved asking for favors from internal makeup artists, such as applying cosmetics for unprofessional activities.

Fox News has also conducted operations against its own hosts and stars while they are still employed on the network, according to private e-mails and interviews with various well-placed sources.

Operations are often seen as a tactic by the fiercest officials of the network to punish the personalities of the broadcast for offenses. At other times, this has been done to shield a potentially bad press from Fox's most valuable assets by drawing reporters' attention to a less appreciated or less appreciated host, according to five former and former staff members.

Fox said the staff's claims were "completely inaccurate and totally false".

However, e-mails reviewed and verified by the Daily Beast show that Fox's communications staff provided negative information about Fox Business Network's network host, Stuart Varney, who still works at Fox; and Bill O'Reilly, who at the time was the leader of the network's evaluations, will soon be the victim of allegations of serial sexual harassment.

For now, Kelly's career in the media is, at the very least, extremely uncertain. If she tries to make a room to return to Fox after hitting NBC, she will be directed to a news agency whose PR shop has worked behind the scenes to highlight its shortcomings.

Ironically, it's a dirty and sneaky game that Kelly herself played and that she used to face Fox's opponents as she passed through the network, according to many sources directly aware of the network.

In the case of O & # 39; Reilly, a negative story told of years ago – a story suggesting that O'Reilly was jealous of Kelly's rise to power and her adoration by the mainstream media – came from a member of Kelly's camp, according to one of the emails reviewed by the Daily The Beast. The anti-O'Reilly information was sent to the media because Kelly was angry with O'Reilly and she explicitly asked a Fox public relations staff member near her home to retaliate and broadcast it. confirmed the sources at the Daily Beast.

During her time at Fox News, Kelly had the reputation of being a skilled knife fighter against her internal enemies. "She gave as well as she was, maybe even better," one well-informed source recalls.

The representative of Kelly and NBC did not respond to requests for comments on the narrative of this story.

His bureaucratic sense at Fox, however, did him little good at his new home. While Kelly was preparing to move to NBC last year, it became clear to many industry players that the next chapter of Kelly's career would be difficult to sell from the start.

Two years ago, at the time of Kelly's decision-making process, prior to her high-profile entry into NBC, Kelly's potential media partner had analyzed and evaluated her social media accounts and activities for an informal study. At the time, the New York media wondered if Kelly – a Fox News superstar who came with his own bag of racial controversies and unfounded calls to the right-wing grievance culture – might appeal to a public much less conservative.

The potential media partner then determined, based on the raw data, that because of its appeal to the brand and its success, it was deeply embedded in a large audience of old white men and conservative and conservative viewers. would be extremely difficult (if not impossible) for her to move on to something like a morning show on NBC.

The skeptics were, of course, correct. The average audience of its issue between September 2017 and September 2018 fell by 13% compared to the previous iteration of 9 am. Today & # 39; hui.

Although Kelly was praised for his #MeToo coverage – often in the face of network hostility – his time at NBC was marked by several embarrassments and shortcomings in the news, such as disappointing ratings and a widely criticized interview of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

In recent years, Kelly has also become an important target of Trumpworld's contempt. In the 2016 elections, the future president and Republican leader Donald Trump and Kelly made themselves known by a famous feud. The latter questioned him during a debate on the treatment of women and his misogynistic speech about women, and the first stated that she had "blood coming out of her". anywhere. "

However, there was little public talk "Megyn-freude" in Trump's circle this week and last week, and some were decidedly friendly on the record.

"I feel bad for what we're doing to him. I have no ill will for what she said or did during the election season. 2016 was not my best year either, "Michael Stroke, a former Trump campaigner and regular at CNN, a competitor with Fox, told The Daily Beast. "I do not tolerate blackface comments, but what is being exercised on her by many unnamed leaders really feels like being repressed."

Although she was never the most popular anchor of Team Trump, there was one important person in Trumpworld with whom Kelly really tried to arrange everything: Donald J. Trump.

According to someone familiar with what happened, Kelly called the then elected President, Trump, during the transition, to congratulate him on his historic victory and to congratulate the political campaign he was leading. The source has bluntly called it a phone call, and Kelly has talked about potential opportunities (read: NBC interview) for the future.

However, this has never failed. With all she could not accomplish during her short stay there, Kelly left NBC without landing an exclusive Trump for the network.

-With an additional report by Andrew Kirell

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