There must have been a lot of curiosity seekers for Megyn Kelly’s first television interview since parting ways with NBC News in January 2019. As a result, her appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight generated huge ratings. About four million viewers watched the Fox News Channel interview conducted by Carlson with the former NBC Today show host, and prior to that, the anchor of FNC’s The Kelly File.
The Megyn Kelly appearance made Tucker Carlson Tonight the top-rated cable news show that night.
Kelly reportedly walked away from NBC with the full $69 million that she would have earned if she had lasted the full three years of the contract. She must have signed a confidentiality agreement because — presumably by prearrangement — Tucker asked no questions about the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to her exit from 30 Rock.
The main headline from the interview was her call for an independent, outside investigation into the sexual harassment investigations still engulfing NBC.
From the Washington Post:
“Kelly used her time on air to test her television muscles again on the cable network that made her famous. Simultaneously amused and outraged, she was far more at home on the prime-time Fox News show than she’d ever been as the host of the third hour of NBC’s Today... Kelly let Carlson say what she could not. Namely, that she was not forced out of NBC because of the company’s objection to her comments questioning why blackface was not an appropriate Halloween costume. Instead, Carlson argued she was forced out because she had reported too aggressively on NBC News’s decision to not air reporter Ronan Farrow’s investigation into Harvey Weinstein….The appearance came a day after the publication of Farrow’s book, Catch and Kill, an account of how Farrow says NBC News killed his investigation into Weinstein. It alleges that the network did so to cover up for the alleged sexual harassment and assault by former Today star Matt Lauer.
“Farrow accused the network of trying to shut down his 2017 report about sexual misconduct allegations against now-disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. The article was published in The New Yorker Oct. 10, 2017, and the book includes a more extensive investigation into NBC News,” the Daily Caller added.
All About Careerism?
Megyn Kelly would hardly be the first TV pundit to switch political ideologies when they change networks. CNN and MSNBC are full of them. Fox News also has several commentators on the payroll who have gone anti-Trump based on petty, personal animosity rather than the issues.
Starting with the famous or infamous August 2015 GOP debate, and continuing on The Kelly File (which got its name from her regular segment on The O’Reilly Factor) at 9 p.m. weeknights, Megyn Kelly spent about a year trashing Donald Trump. The-then GOP candidate also spent a lot of time firing back at Kelly.
This perpetual anti-Trump, Never Trump content seemed to be part of an approximately year-long audition for a more-prestigious job — at least as perceived on the New York-Washington circuit — at ABC, NBC, CBS, or CNN. Kelly ultimately left FNC in January 2017 for NBC. Liberal street cred, in other words.
Recall too that that her November 2016 book tour for Settle for More was seemingly planned as an anti-Trump victory lap. Donald Trump thwarted that by winning the presidency.
‘Megyn Kelly Today’ Was Yesterday
Even with the perpetual anti-Trump content in her resume, and jumping on the #MeToo bandwagon to boost soft Today ratings in her Megyn Kelly Today time slot, Megyn Kelly could never become liberal enough for the liberal NBC culture.
Again, although her ratings as the host of the third hour of the Today show never set the world on fire, it was obvious that NBC used the idiotic blackface gaffe as a pretext to get rid of her. After all, Justin Trudeau actually wore blackface, and despite that, he may hang on as Canada’s Liberal prime minister after Monday’s election. Plus, Democrat Ralph Northam, a guy who allegedly posed in a yearbook picture in either blackface or in a Klan costume, is still governor of Virginia.
Megyn Kelly faced all kinds of challenges right from the jump when she attempted to switch from prime-time hard news journalist on Fox News to daytime, lifestyle diva on NBC starting in September 2017.
In particular, she made key two errors when, at times on her NBC program, she opted to get back into hard news:
As explained above, Kelly was openly critical of NBC execs for how they handled the Matt Lauer sexual harassment scandal and for spiking a story about disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Plus, Kelly was a proponent of due process for Brett Kavanaugh during his contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, which hardly fit within the NBC News agenda or the prevailing mainstream media groupthink generally. Whether the ambitious former corporate lawyer was sincere in demanding fairness for the judge is another matter entirely.
Kelly also got into some public disagreements with celebrities like Jane Fonda, and reportedly other A-Listers declined bookings on her show because of her Fox News background.
Megyn Gets Extra Air Time
Tucker Carlson’s segments are usually way too short, but he kept Kelly on for three segments. Her subtext still seems anti-Trump, and she did come across to some degree as an apologist for CNN and other outlets.
Responding to a question about the state of journalism, however, she did observe that the mainstream media bias against Trump is more active than passive now and that the hysterical media has cried wolf once to often. She added that the mainstream media is disconnected from the tired cliche known as “flyover country.”
Megyn Kelly told Carlson that she has greatly enjoyed the extra time she has spent with her three kids over the past year and while working at NBC, but added that she’s ready to resume her high-profile media career.
Megyn Kelly’s Next Platform
On more than one occasion, Fox News has declared that it has no plans to rehire Megyn Kelly (although it would be no surprise to see her show up as a guest now and then.)
Most likely, CBS, ABC, and CNN have no interest either. With millions in the bank, why would she want to work for anyone else? According to the New York Post, Kelly supposedly plans to launch her own production company, according to an unamed source, often otherwise known as a planted story.
“Instead, she is launching her own video podcast, just like [Bill] O’Reilly, whose subscription service to show “No Spin News” has proven to be vastly profitable. Kelly has also been looking at office space in Midtown to build up her “Kelly brand” and get her teeth back into the news business ahead of the 2020 election. A source said despite her often-contentious relationship with O’Reilly at Fox News, she has taken a close interest in his money-making media business. Kelly also hopes to produce documentaries and continue her mission to support victims of sexual harassment. The source said, “Megyn has been talking to a lot of powerful media execs. When you love what you do, it’s hard to stay away for too long,” adding that her stint on Carlson’s show reminded viewers that she firmly belongs back in news.”
Hollywood has produced two movies about the tawdry sexual harassment allegations against former Fox News founder Roger Ailes. Showtime made The Loudest Voice (which virtually no one watched). A theatrical film called Bombshell, with Charlize Theron portraying Megyn Kelly, officially releases in late December. The media will undoubtedly try to generate buzz for the movie, but the likelihood is that it will experience a lackluster box office.
Potential Hollywood films about accused predators Weinstein, Lauer, or the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, would seem far more interesting, except that they are all liberal Democrats. Would the entertainment industry take a look at itself rather than bash conservatives?
