By Phillip Faraone/Getty Images.
Reports are circling that Megyn Kelly’s NBC talk show, Megyn Kelly Today, is on its last legs, after the anchor made comments on Tuesday defending the use of blackface on Halloween.
The comments sparked an instant backlash on social media, as well as from network employees. NBC’s Lester Holt ran a segment about Kelly on Nightly News, noting that this isn’t the first time his network-mate has inflamed racial tension on television; NBC News chief Andy Lack unequivocally condemned the remarks at an NBC town-hall meeting; on Wednesday, Kelly’s own Today colleague Al Roker said that she “owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country,” while Craig Melvin called her words “indefensible”.
Kelly issued a swift apology on her show the next day, after first sending an apologetic memo to everyone at NBC—but even that tactic drew criticism, suggesting that her relationship with NBC may have reached its breaking point. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, sources are saying that Kelly’s show might wrap up for good at the end of this season.
The anchor, who has struggled since making a much-publicized move from Fox News to NBC, and from primetime to morning TV, has reportedly been reconsidering Megyn Kelly Today for weeks, long before the blackface controversy erupted. T.H.R. says that she has met with NBC execs to ask if she can pivot from softer daytime topics to hard news and politics. Those meetings are a sign that both NBC and Kelly are aware that her pricy leap to the network hasn’t exactly paid off. The show’s ratings have floundered for months, signaling that something needs to change, and fast. Per T.H.R. it’s unclear what Kelly’s show would be replaced with at the end of the season.
In the wake of the blackface scandal, Kelly will reportedly skip Thursday and Friday’s Today telecasts. Netflix has also confirmed that Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, and House of Cards show-runner__Melissa James Gibson__ canceled an upcoming appearance on Megyn Kelly Today, likely to avoid an association with the radioactive anchor. It’s also been reported that Kelly is parting ways with her agency, CAA—perhaps, in part, because the agency also represents NBC News president Noah Oppenheim. She’s reportedly been in talks with UTA co-president Jay Sures since before the blackface comments. In the meantime, Kelly has also hired attorney Bryan Freedman—a sign that an impending departure from NBC could lead to a legal battle.
Credit:Vanity Fair
via USAHint.com
No comments:
Post a Comment