The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
44°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Megyn Kelly is off the air as NBC News weighs her future

Megyn Kelly’s NBC show, "Megyn Kelly Today" is going into reruns this week in the wake of the intense backlash to her comments about blackface at Halloween. (Charles Sykes / Invision/AP)
By Stephen Battaglio Los Angeles Times

NBC News ran a previously taped episode of Megyn Kelly’s morning program Thursday as executives determine the host’s future after the public and internal outrage over her on-air comments about using blackface on Halloween.

While NBC News has not publicly discussed the status of Kelly, the division issued a statement saying, “Given the circumstances, ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ will be on tape the rest of the week.” The program typically airs live daily at 9 a.m.

In recent weeks, NBC News executives and Kelly have been talking about ending her morning program and giving her a new role in hard news coverage.

But the relationship between the network and its high-profile hire who came from Fox News deteriorated this week after a roundtable chat on her show in which Kelly questioned why the use of blackface on Halloween was inappropriate, igniting a major backlash on social media.

The flap is the latest controversy to hit Kelly’s ratings-challenged program, which has been subjected to negative reviews and coverage since it debuted in September 2017. She also had a short-lived prime-time magazine show since joining NBC News 18 months ago.

NBC aggressively covered Kelly’s blackface remarks on “NBC Nightly News” on Tuesday and again Wednesday on “Today” in a segment that was followed up with some harsh condemnation from two of the program’s African-American regulars, Al Roker and Craig Melvin.

NBC News Chairman Andy Lack also criticized Kelly at a division-wide meeting Wednesday which had been scheduled before the flare-up occurred.

“There is no other way to put this but I condemn those remarks,” Lack said, according to the attendee. “There is no place on our air or in this workplace for them. Very unfortunate.”