The real Megyn Kelly: in his private world until today

In the end, was Megyn Kellyjust not the right solution for a morning show? This is not the cup of tea from the coffee-coffee club?

This week, Viewof Abby Hunter, just as Kelly, a Fox News alumna who took off for TV during the day, suggested in an interview that Kelly could have been better served on NBC if she had offered herself more, especially to an audience that tends to lend his loyalty to a show based on how much he loves the hosts. On-screen chemistry is also important: if they look really hot and confused, or if ViewThe case of, curiously salty and stubborn – viewers tend to feel more connected to them.

"Even – not really to go – but with all that Megyn Kelly goes through, I think what hurt her, is that she's not let herself go too." vulnerable that she should have and that she's self-depreciated, "Huntsman told Bold TV. . "And so, when you make these mistakes, people are more likely to say" OK, we forgive you this time. "Because we know you're a good person – because I know it, but it's been harder to really show people the real deal."

After a hectic debut in 2017, Kelly seemed to put herself at ease in her 9 o'clock host role. Today & # 39; hui and part of the larger ensemble. But unexpectedly, last week, his term ended dramatically and polarizing.

Not so long ago, Megyn Kelly was seen as one of the few people to be able to bridge the gap between an increasingly blurred television pool – attracting viewers with her strength and composure, conservatives with his Fox News pedigree, the moderate majority with bum and the MSNBC crowd with … well, the TV was already on anyway.

Kelly was made a name as an impeccable presence at Fox News Channel. Most of her opinions are surely conservative when she shares them, but she was more than happy to ask difficult questions to guests (or completely closed) who were present to ostensibly support the overall view of the network. Strangers regularly told him that they hated Fox News but liked him.

"I'm conservative on some things and not others," Kelly said in an interview in 2010 The Howard Stern Show-Proof there that she's not as tight as she might seem at times. When Stern, of course, expressed her disappointment at seeing that she was wearing pants in the studio instead of a dress, she recognized the reputation of her network by saying, "Every time you wear pants [on Fox News]you receive letters from the ladies saying: "It's time." "

In 2006, after five years of marriage, she discreetly divorced her first husband, Dr. Daniel Kendall. Shortly after, she met an entrepreneur who became a novelist. Douglas Brunt at a meeting in Washington DC – although not so blind to him because he knew what Kelly looked like on TV.

"We started going out together shortly after she had a stalker – a bad start, I know," Brunt said in a message posted on the Instagram account Humans of New York. "So she was safe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our first date went well. It was the kind of night that was clearly going to end with a kiss. But I had to kiss him in front of the security guards. It was embarrassing. It was as if our parents were watching us. The next morning she knocked on the door of my hotel room. She was alone. She came into the room and said: "I can do better." "

For several months they operated it at long distance, Brunt in New York and Kelly at D.C.

"He seemed sincere," Kelly said later The New York Times. "While we were talking, he leaned forward, really listening to what I said, he is as smart and has a great sense of humor."

"She works hard, her life is thoughtful and she is very rational," Brunt told the newspaper. "At the same time, she is romantic and passionate."

In fact, she dropped him a New Year's Eve after an almost disastrous dog walk. They reminded the Time that they were walking with his two Shih Tzus to the place where they were when one of them got away from Brunt and almost did not get run over by a car. He apologized profusely and she, impressed by her emotional honesty, forgave him. But even better, Fox News moved her to New York a week later, so they could finally live in the same city.

They married in March 2008 and have three children together, their sons Yates and Thatcher and girl Yardley. Kelly quickly rejected the idea that she had to choose between a flourishing career and a growing family.

A practicing lawyer for nine years before moving into the press sector, Kelly was willing to become perfectly realistic about certain topics.

She took 33 pounds during her first pregnancy in 2009, she said frankly in Stern, and "swelled like a tick" after having a cesarean section. "So, a week after having the baby, I look down on the scales hoping for a miracle: I took five pounds!" The weight finally began to subside and she started a diet to lose the last 10 pounds.

Kelly was also found waiting for maternity leave on the air, after a commentator called her three-month absence for the birth of Yardley, her second child, a "racketeer."

"We are populating the human race," she said during the afternoon broadcast that she had animated at the time, America Live. "It's not a vacation, it's hard work and important."

Speaking of the similarities between her former career as a lawyer and her work at Fox News, she told the New York Times in 2011, "we take a lot of information and try to tell a story in the most persuasive way, whether in front of a jury or in front of an audience." The ancestors and the trial lawyers are both artists to heart." The newspaper noted that she had jumped into the car while waiting to take her to work, dressed in skinny jeans, and said with irony later: "If you want to see me in a pleasant setting, allow yourself between 1 pm and 3 pm "

When asked if she enjoyed her second career, unlike the first, Kelly exclaimed, "Guilty! I am really. Before doing that, I had everything for myself." On paper, excellent law firm work, a doctor-class girl had arrived, but it was not fun. "

Reveal that she had received a gracious note from disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner after she had her Yardley, Kelly said USA Weekend in 2011, she felt bad for her family. "I'm in the position, not with my current marriage, where I've been betrayed," she explained. "In the beginning, the instinct is very powerful to hang on to." She also, in the context of a seemingly unrelated discussion about the Attorney General's time Eric Holder, told a guest on her show in 2013 that she had been deceived.

His ex, Dan Kendall, told Mail Online in 2015 that he had do not deceive Kelly. He suspected who did it, but out of respect for her, it would not be a name of course.

"I believe that working two jobs, the long hours spent on corporate law and part-time news, and my long hours of medical training, have hurt our marriage," said Kendall, remarried since then and father of two. . "I worked very hard and very long hours and we found our interest to be in different places.Let's just say that I really liked the sport and that it has never been a big fan of ESPN … we just grew up apart … it's just a problem that sometimes two personalities can face it ".

He added: "So we broke up, it was mutual, she wanted to work and continue, but I realized that it was not going anywhere." She moved to the street and she did not go anywhere. was very friendly, we always walked the dogs together. "They remained friends and he even appeared as a medical expert on his show in 2011, he noted.

Kendall concluded, "I have tremendous respect for Megyn and I still love her as a person.I just want what's best for her and her family."

"It's a good guy I'm still friends with," Kelly told Howard Stern in 2010. She was "just unhappy" in the wedding.

While she was generally known to be more of a heterosexual shooter than some of her colleagues, her potential cross call was apparently put forward in 2015, when people who were not among Fox's devoted onlookers News or who would never have considered themselves as Kelly fans, sat down and took notice when she asked the candidate at that time Donald Trumpabout the unpleasant comments he made about women over the years during the first Republican primary debate. She fanned the wrath of the future president, resisted the attack of "blood that came out everywhere" and gained new fans.

At the same time, there were rumors that, with her contract on the rise, she would consider leaving for another network.

His 2016 memoir sold well and worked well, Be satisfied with more, seemed to partly prepare the ground for it to come out of its information bubble on the cable. Among the revelations of the book, she wrote that she had been one of the women sexually harassed by the long-time boss of Fox News. Roger Ailes, who resigned in July 2016 while the charges against him have accumulated. (Wings died on May 2017.)

Kelly's contract with NBC was announced on January 3, 2017 with the chairman of the NBCUniversal information group Andy Lack praising his "talent and composure" and claiming that they were lucky to have it.

The following month, Kelly acknowledged at a Facebook Live event that the 2016 election coverage – and sometimes part of the controversy – hurt her, but there was clear uncertainty.

"It's not that I would like to see that again, but I've learned a lot about myself and it has had benefits," she said. "I became even closer to my husband, I got to know myself better, I proved myself certain things – myself." About reaching Trump, she said, "Even a problem of this size, where you're really not on the right side of whoever will eventually become the president – although it may not be nice to an opportunity for you. It's always an opportunity, so I think it's helpful psychologically to somehow turn huge problems into huge opportunities. "

Although, obviously, a sufficient number of prominent personalities thought that she would fit NBC News perfectly after 12 years spent at Fox News, many of which as host of her own show as a bonus time, The Kelly filethere were many naysayers who did not think it was going to work. And it turns out that 13 months later, they have not forgotten their original opinions on the subject.

Ironically, however, many people have also agreed (as in the polls about this) that if Kelly had to leave, it should not have been for that.

On the first episode of Megyn Kelly todayOn September 25, 2017, she touchingly confessed that she was nervous and made a joke about how she was do not to be covering Trump tweets.

"The truth is I'm a little completed with politics for the moment, "she assured the audience. You know why, no? We all feel it, it's all over. It's everywhere and it's so dark, and I'm finished, "she said, pointing.

Kelly then said that her father, a college teacher, Edward Kelly, would play the guitar and sing John Denver"Today" by the fireplace during family camping trips. "We must not lose a moment," she says, "making every day count.

Edward died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 45 at the Albany family home, in the state of New York, 10 days before Christmas. Megyn was 15 years old. She called it "the most devastating event" of her life. "As difficult as it was my father's loss, it reminded me steadfastly of following the message of this song," Today, "which says," Do not waste time. " so that the moment is decisive. "

Meanwhile, Kelly's mother, Linda, a former nurse, was in the audience – and her husband, Doug, surprised her with a bouquet of roses, a rare glimpse of the greatest influences of Kelly's private world.

An incredibly human and relatable way to start, right? Yes, but the roller coaster was already cracking.

After this first show, Debra Messing expressed regret over social media after being part of the cast of Will & Grace, which then returned to NBC after 11 years. Jokingly, Kelly asked a member of the public when he "became" gay after watching the groundbreaking sitcom when it first aired.

Also during his first week, Kelly rubbed Jane Fonda The wrong way to ask a question about the fact that Fonda looks so great is why the double Oscar winner was so reluctant to talk about plastic surgery. The activist and Hollywood legend did not have it.

"I want to take a moment to thank you all for watching this week," Kelly said on her first show Friday. "It was very exciting, it was educational."

She continued, "I am delighted with the media response, which is really – not – the viewer The response has been great and I am very grateful to have all given you a chance. So, with a lot of love, have a good day. "

But even a hint of blood in the water was enough for critics to decry Kelly's first week as a very unimportant start. However, she had received a warm welcome from her colleagues. When asked about their new teammate at later interviews, they all basically said that it was a process – but everything would be fine.

"I think I asked that question too," Savannah Guthrie said later, referring to the Fonda kerfuffle, on Watch what happens live. "Sometimes you ask questions in an interview and … live on TV, there are always hard times." In the end, she said, "I think [Megyn’s] the player of utility. She can do anything. "

There was also a lot of feedback, many pointing out that the self-critics did not give Kelly a lightning strike. Women are held to an almost unattainable standard of mass "sympathy," and Kelly inevitably has to be judged more severely than any male host entering, partly because of her past and her image as a strong, hard woman. . Plus, not all women will fit in a neat little box prescribed by their environment, especially not immediately.

Kelly was a new volunteer member of the champagne Today & # 39; hui family, said producer Jackie Levin L & # 39; envelope before Kelly's debut, saying, "We do not want to fight anything, it's an inherited brand."

Soon, however, Kelly's growing pains would be the least of anyone's concerns.

the Today & # 39; hui boat was shaken late November by firing from Mast Lauer after the former NBC News star and co-presenter Today & # 39; hui for 20 years – has been accused of sexual misconduct.

"This one is hitting close to home," Kelly said. Today & # 39; hui like the show, which started this morning with Guthrie and Hoda Kotb share the news with stunned viewers, continued. "I, too, have known Matt for a long time, and he has been a friend, a guy who has supported me in my transition to NBC News and I see anguish on the faces of my colleagues.

"But when that happens, we do not see the pain on the faces of those who have found the courage to come forward and it's a terrifying thing to do.We do not see the career opportunities that women lose because of the sexual harassment or the intense stress that results for a woman who comes to work every day.I think of these women this morning and hope that they will be fine. "

In October, the New York Times had reported that Bill O'Reilly, who was fired from Fox News in April 2017, had paid $ 32 million to settle allegations of sexual harassment made by a former Fox News legal analyst. the O & # 39; Reilly Factor The host claimed that he had been "stained maliciously" and that no one had complained about him. Kelly said on Today & # 39; hui that it was not true, that she had complained about O. Reilly, and her co-chairs ignored her concerns Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy, both have since left the network. (Shine went to work at the White House Trump, while Abernathy left to focus on the expansion of the Fox TV channel.)

Kelly went on to talk about the layoff of Lauer on November 29: "As you know, I've already been on another news channel. In my experience, a news agency is bigger than any other news agency. They all face challenges, they stumble, but the good guys stay up and pursue their main mission: journalism. "

The rest Today & # 39; hui the family had to stay united – and this is the case, with Kotb replacing Lauer at the top of the series and all the ladies – who had been the target of rumors of dissension behind the scenes – showed great solidarity.

Kelly also immediately launched an open invitation to Lauer and his accusers to participate in his show. (This was not accepted.) She sheltered women who had accused President Trump of misconduct and who had in turn been dismissed by the commander-in-chief. Megyn Kelly today has become a good time to discuss the relevant issues of #MeToo.

But soon enough, the cracks began to appear again.

In January, the Jane Fonda issue was relaunched when the actress came back to Today & # 39; hui with Lily Tomlin to promote their Netflix show Grace and Frankie. They made jokes about Kelly's meeting during their conversation with Guthrie, and Fonda talked about this meeting in other interviews.

Cue the shades of pre-NBC Megyn Kelly, when Fox News and The daily showThe worlds were more nested thanks to Jon StewartThe regular "coverage" of the network.

Recalling that, after Stewart made fun of it, she ostentatiously declared that her "Santa is white" segment of 2013 had been "ironic" and that anyone real the sense of humor should have understood, his refutation lacking any trace of humor, Kelly decided to talk about the drama Fonda Today & # 39; hui.

"And now, a word about Jane Fonda, who seems to be obsessed with an exchange I had with her months ago on this show," she began.

Maybe to be wrong Today & # 39; hui show for a place where the scores are settled, Kelly continued to "tackle the routine of the 'poor me'."

If it was an attempt to settle their disagreement firmly but lightly, it was … vaguely adrift. But at the same time, she was just standing up for herself and, in all likelihood, Fonda was not a big fan of Kelly at first and liked to turn her around a bit.

Basically, if you were a true Kelly enthusiast, you liked it. But if you were on the fence, or if one of his new fans … That may have seemed a lot.

"She answered that question in about 40 different forums," said Kelly We weekly earlier this month, insisting that she regretted nothing of the way she had handled the controversy over the Fonda. "It was nothing that was wrong with me, and she has answered it in 40 other forums since!" (However, she told Business Insider last year after the Fonda episode, "I regret a lot of what I said [over the years]. I mean, you're going to go to the show a couple of hours a week on live television, you're going to say stupid words. It's just the reality you know, so yes, I'd love to go back and say differently. ")

But Kelly herself noted in January: "My general philosophy is that what others think of me does not look at me."

It was however the case of NBC.

Fortunately, by the end of January, Kelly had an average of 2.9 million viewers – its largest audience to date – and Today & # 39; hui, backed by Olympic Winter Games coverage, had its first win in February since 2012, with an average of 4.47 million viewers and 1.64 million viewers, beating Hello America and CBS this morning.

At the same time, however, a rumor – duly refuted by NBC – was refuted: Kelly, who had pledged a greater presence at NBC News as part of his contract announced for $ 23 million a year, was upset by sending by the network of former internal collaborators. prefer Katie Couricto cover the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Before joining Today & # 39; huiKelly presided over the ephemeral Sunday night with Megyn Kelly, which attracted a lot of attention for her and the network when she interviewed Alex Jones, an InfoWars host and conspiracy theorist, who was banned this year from multiple social media platforms.

Kelly helped cover Trump's state of the union address in January and reportedly contributed to NBC News coverage of the mid-term elections on November 6 before everyone's plan got off to a flying start. minutes last week.

At a round table on October 23rd on the controversy surrounding Halloween costumes, and the fact that each year one or more celebrities are in trouble for wearing something that exceeds the extent to which they could behave. already Kelly thought it was a good idea not to wear the blackface – in the service of a suit – to be such a big problem.

Although it's not hard to see that Kelly did not suggest that there's anything wrong with that, her reluctance to admit that it's never a good idea s & # 039; Was rightly shocking for the viewers and the people sitting at the table, Jenna Bush Hager, Jacob Soboroff and Melissa Rivers.

A few hours later, emails emailed to colleagues and emotional apologies the next day, in which Kelly admitted she had cheated, were not enough to stem the tide. Last Friday, NBC announced that Megyn Kelly today was of tomorrow.

(E! And NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)