Updated October 28, 2018.
A previous version of this rumor was false. However, the host is now leaving NBC following remarks she made on the air on October 23, 2018, defending wearing blackface on Halloween:
“I want to begin with two words, I’m sorry..The country feels so divided and I have no wish to add to that pain and offense. I believe this is a time for more understanding, more love, more sensitivity and honor..Thank you for listening and for helping me listen too.” Megyn Kelly pic.twitter.com/6hHrvZLNvK
— Megyn Kelly TODAY (@MegynTODAY) October 24, 2018
Megyn Kelly Fired by NBC News After Losing Conservative Following-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Megyn Kelly was fired by NBC News before her show began because she was upset with plans for her to portray a “white Oprah Winfrey.”
The Truth:
A known fake news website was behind false reports that Megyn Kelly was fired by NBC before her show began.
Those rumors started with a report that appeared at Last Line of Defense under the headline, “BREAKING: NBC Just Fired Megyn Kelly Before Her New Show Begins.” The report credits the scoop to a producer named Hugh McGovern (we couldn’t find a producer by that name), who said Kelly wanted to be a journalist but couldn’t because of her falling out with President Trump during the 2016 election cycle:
Megyn Kelly turned down a $20 million payday to stay with the only trusted name in news for a daytime slot where she could play a white version of Oprah Winfrey on NBC for 25 percent less money. Now that her tenure at Fox has ended and her new show is scheduled to start production sequences for a fall premiere, Kelly decided she wasn’t happy and demanded the format be changed.
According to Hugh McGovern, executive producer of Kelly’s new show:
“Megyn had high hopes when she left Fox that people would still take her seriously as a journalist. She was lured to NBC with promises of easier days and evenings at home with the family. Now that she sees the production schedule, she feels like she’s been duped and has demanded she be given more serious show assignments.”
The problem, according to McGovern, is that Kelly sees a schedule filled with visits from celebrities and novelists to talk about their sitcoms and books, traveling assignments to dog shows and fashion week and even the addition of a musical guest. According to Maxwell Seawald, CEO of NBC Universal:
“Ms. Kelly wants to be a journalist. Unfortunately, after her stint at Fox News and the way she attacked President Trump, she lost her following. Our data tells us that our audience will tolerate and even learn to like her, but not as a political pundit or someone they should take seriously. She needs to think less Diane Sawyer and more Kelly Ripa.”
The story was quickly shared on social media more than 20,000 times, fueling speculation that Megyn Kelly’s time at NBC ended before it began. However, many of those people didn’t make it to the disclaimer for The Last Line of Defense, which makes clear that it’s not a credible source for news:
DISCLAIMER: The Resistance may include information from sources that may or may not be reliable and facts that don’t necessarily exist. All articles should be considered satirical and any and all quotes attributed to actual people complete and total baloney. Pictures that represent actual people should be considered altered and not in any way real.
In reality, Megyn Kelly had not been fired by NBC. In fact, she hadn’t formally joined the network at the time rumors that Kelly was fired by NBC before her show began started to circulate. She was expected to join the network in May 2017, and her new daytime show was expected to are in a time slot following the Today show beginning in the fall of 2017, USA Today reports:
NBC News is firming up plans for its biggest new hire, Megyn Kelly.
Kelly, who exited Fox News earlier this month, will join NBC in May. And her new morning show will premiere this fall, according to an NBC executive familiar with the network’s plans.
Undecided, as yet: Whether Kelly will air at 9 a.m. ET/PT — bridging the gap between the first two hours of Today and the lighter fourth hour featuring Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford — or at 10 a.m., in which case Kotb and Gifford’s giggle-fest would move an hour earlier. The current 9 a.m. hour, fronted by Al Roker and Tamron Hall, will disappear by fall in either event, though both are expected to remain at the network.
Rumors that Megyn Kelly was fired by NBC before her show even began remain false.