Former Fox news channel host Megyn Kelly, who joined NBC in 2017, is losing her show "Megyn Kelly Today" there. She had defended the so-called "Blackfacing" in Halloween costumes on Tuesday and was harshly criticized.
Blackfacing is the term used to describe the dark makeup of white people. It is often considered racist. Megyn Kelly said in her show this week, "What's racist? You get a bit of a hassle when you paint a black face as a white person, and when you were a kid, that was okay, as long as you disguised yourself as a character." She was widely criticized for these statements. Kelly apologized in public, but since Thursday shows the station NBC only previous episodes of their live show "Today".
"Megyn Kelly Today" is not returning, "NBC News said in a statement Negotiations on Kelly's departure from NBC were in progress A person familiar with the situation confirmed it on Friday on the condition of anonymity not authorized to discuss the topic publicly.
The American presenter initially worked for the conservative broadcaster Fox News. In 2017 she went to the station NBC. Kelly was known as a critic Donald Trumps, which she addressed several times personally in his election campaign and in turn was hostile to him. She also interviewed women who accused the current US President Donald Trump of acting inappropriately and exposing himself as a victim of sexual harassment in the #Metoo movement. The "Time" magazine called Kelly a leader of the #Metoo movement in the entertainment industry.
However, the number of viewers on NBC's "Today" show has fallen since Kelly took over the show: in the first year, Kelly's show averaged 2.4 million viewers a day, a drop of 400,000 viewers over the previous year.