Megyn Kelly's "black face" remarks lead to a break with NBC



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On her Tuesday show, her comments – in which she suggested to her guests that, when she was small, dressed in black was accepted "as long as you disguise yourself as a character" – left many employees of NBC News stunned and exasperated. In a post-broadcast meeting, members of Kelly's "Today" team expressed dismay over what she had said on the air, according to several people informed of the discussion. although Ms. Kelly is not present.

Her remarks were made during a roundtable explaining how, as she has said, "the police costumes suits Halloween". "You actually have problems if you are a white person who puts a blackface on Halloween, or a black person who uses a blackface for Halloween," Kelly said. "When I was a kid, it was O.K., provided you disguise yourself as a character."

She added that she was puzzled by the critics of Luann de Lesseps, cast member of "The Real Housewives of New York", accused of being disguised as Diana Ross, with an afro wig excessive. "People said it was racist, and I do not know, I told myself: who does not like Diana Ross?" Said Ms. Kelly, adding, "I can not follow the number of people we have. recidivism simply by being normal people. "

A few hours later, she sent an apology by email to her colleagues. "The history of blackface in our culture is abominable; the wounds are too deep, "Kelly wrote. "I have never been a person like" pc "- but I understand that we have to be more sensitive nowadays."

"NBC Nightly News" featured passages from Kelly's remarks in her Tuesday and Wednesday editions. On Tuesday, the show featured a 2013 Fox News clip in which Kelly participated in Santa's run. "For all children watching at home, Santa Claus is all white," she said. This same clip was rebroadcast Wednesday at the time of "Today", at 7 o'clock.

For NBC News, the "blackface" push was another headache.

The information division is under surveillance for what its executives knew about Mr. Lauer's behavior at his workplace prior to his dismissal in 2017, after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him. . In May, an NBC investigation cleared network leaders of wrongdoing, but it was criticized for being conducted by an in-house lawyer rather than an outside law firm.

Mr. Brokaw was also charged with making unwanted advances – assertions denied by the anchor. And in September, journalist Ronan Farrow and his NBC producer, Rich McHugh, accused the network of preventing a report on Harvey Weinstein and sexual assault, an investigation that Mr. Farrow pursued at the New Yorker. (NBC said that he did nothing wrong.)

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