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Sarah Ellison
Reporter covering the media and its intersection with politics and technology
The morning show of Megyn Kelly on NBC is over. The network announced Friday that other presenters on "Today" would replace it at 9 am, ending "Megyn Kelly Today". The cancellation follows months of missteps, uncomfortable moments and a racial defense of Halloween costumes. .
Kelly, who was once a Fox News star, had a long-standing ambition to break out of the conservative news bubble into mainstream TV personality with the ambition of becoming a mix of Oprah Winfrey and of Charlie Rose.
She once said that she wanted to "help people," just like Oprah. Her book title suggested that she wanted to "settle for more." She debuted on her morning show on the NBC channel "Megyn Kelly Today" claiming that she had "finished with politics for now."
But its stormy transition to morning news has shown how difficult it is to separate the Fox News brand identity.
The end of his show was announced in a tweet by NBC News. Some people close to the case said Thursday that Kelly and NBC's lawyers planned to meet today to clarify the details of their relationship. NBC attracted Kelly to Fox News early last year with a three-year, $ 69 million contract.
Kelly's future with NBC remains uncertain. "Megyn remains an employee of NBC News and discussions on the next steps are continuing," said her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, in a statement.
She's not welcome to her former home, Fox News, which she has left to her account.
"We are extremely pleased with our entire lineup," said a spokesman for Fox News. After publicly discussing sexual harassment, Kelly burned down bridges in Fox. She said she was the victim of the late Roger Ailes, co-founder of the channel.
[‘Just get rid of her’: Megyn Kelly is again in trouble, but NBC colleagues rejected her long before]
In some parts of the country, Fox News insiders relished some schadenfreude in Kelly's failure on NBC. Darla Shine, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Bill Shine, former Fox News executive, cheerfully highlighted Kelly's problems in tweeting A story that said Kelly was not on his show for the rest of the week was accompanied by the following comment: "That's what happens when you tilt the universe with @ Megynkelly lies. . . . You helped perpetuate lies against those who helped you. Only the truth will make you free!
Shine, whose husband was a long-time Welsh MP, had also attacked Kelly when she had declared for the first time that Wings was sexually harassing her.
Some NBC staff were skeptical of Kelly when it was announced that she would be leaving Fox for their network. Others doubted that she could make the transition from a cable TV host to the hard stuff at the lighter rate of a morning show.
It's in the segment "Megyn Kelly Today" that got in trouble this week that she ran into problems when she asked her all-white panel of visitors, "What is the racism?
"Really, you're in trouble if you're a white person who puts the blackface for Halloween or a black person who put the whiteface for Halloween," she continued. "When I was a kid, it was okay as long as you dressed like a character."
Even before the latest controversy, which caused the casting of Netflix's movie "House of Cards" to cancel the show's appearance, Kelly was having trouble booking stars. However, she seemed to find her balance by focusing the episodes on victims of sexual harassment as these stories came to the fore.
Eleanor McManus, a friend of Kelly, a crisis manager who has appeared on the Kelly show several times, said NBC was treated as a retaliation by NBC for reporting on the #MeToo movement – especially its attention to the charges against NBC and its stars.
"Megyn has made a mistake and she apologizes immediately. Rather than creating a learning moment for all, NBC has chosen to shame it, "McManus said. "Megyn used her show to give a voice to women in the # MeToo movement, without fear of consequences, even if they were in her own backyard. She is one of the biggest advocates of women. "
Kelly covered Matt Lauer's sexual harassment scandal and invited one of his victims to participate in his show. She also gave a platform to the charges against NBC News' Tom Brokaw, both of which aroused resentment from his NBC colleagues.
But Kelly's rise at Fox has shown many warning signs of his race view, which his colleagues at NBC have described as problematic. She said on air on the cable channel that both Santa Claus and Jesus were white.
Now, his struggles at NBC have provided an edifying story to Fox News personalities looking to get out of their sphere and enter another.
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