Megyn Kelly dumped by agency and NBC starts talks to give her the boot after blackface comments

Oct 25, 2018

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Megyn Kelly is in talks to step down from her post as the host of the 9 a.m. hour of the Today Show, a source told The Hollywood Reporter. 

—Ummm, helloooo? Could Megyn Kelly really be this tone deaf about blackface at Halloween?—

Kelly reportedly sat down with NBC execs to discuss her exit and the possibility of covering more news and politics. This comes after months of criticism for her approach on hard-hitting topics and her inability to effectively articulate a deeper understanding of issues.

On Tuesday, it also didn’t help that the NBC daytime host surprised her viewers with a ridiculous question about whether the use of blackface on Halloween is really racist. The backlash was widespread and swift.

“But what is racist?” Kelly pondered on Megyn Kelly Today to a panel that included Jenna Bush Hager, Jacob Soboroff and Melissa Rivers. “You truly do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween.”

Social media was quick to correct her ignorance and even NBC anchors slammed the former Fox News host.

On Today, Craig Melvin called her tone- deaf comments “racist and ignorant.” Al Roker said on Twitter that Kelly “owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country.”

NBC News chairman Andy Lack held a town hall with NBC News employees on Wednesday:

“There is no other way to put this, but I condemn those remarks — there is no place on our air or in this workplace for them. Very unfortunate,” Lack said at the town hall. “I think that Nightly covered the story well last night and appropriately so. I think this morning on the Today show, the team did an excellent job covering it properly. I thought Craig [Melvin] and Al [Roker] brought a thoughtfulness and a context to it that was sorely missing, and they really did this company and our audience a real public service. And that is the Today show and Nightly at their very best.”

—‘Silly and disingenuous’: Megyn Kelly’s Black colleagues aren’t buying ‘blackface’ apology—

Added Lack, “As we go forward, my highest priority remains, and as we sort through this with Megyn, let there be no doubt that this is a workplace in which you need to be proud and in which we respect each other in all the ways we know is foundational to who we are.”

Kelly has since tearfully apologized, but that didn’t stop her agency for dumping her.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, CAA, who has repped Kelly since 2015, reportedly declined to give a reason for the split. UTA reportedly stepped up to rep Kelly but then backed out of representing Kelly on Wednesday amid the controversy.

And, of course, the internet is rejoicing in comic fashion.

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