The battle between Megyn Kelly and NBC execs rages on…
As you may recall, 47-year-old Kelly was abruptly fired from the TODAY show last week after making racist comments defending blackface. Since then, she’s been negotiating her departure from the network.
Now, the Daily Mail claims those negotiations have turned into “all out war”, reporting that Kelly “is looking to get her $69M payout PLUS a $10M bonus in exit package” after she claims NBC “destroyed her career.”
She’s also allegedly “threatening to expose execs” by refusing to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Related: Megyn Kelly yanked from TODAY show after racist comments defending blackface, may not return
OK, first, NBC didn’t “destroy” Kelly’s career. She did that on her own when she decided to defend blackface.
And second, we’re pretty sure a white woman being fired from her job for saying racist things and still walking away with $69 million plus an additional $10 million is the textbook definition of white privilege.
The Chicago Tribune reports:
Kelly’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, has been negotiating the terms of her separation from NBC for a week. The discussions have hit a snag over the language in a joint statement that would announce Kelly’s departure from NBC News, according to two people familiar with the deliberations.
Their disagreement centers on how much emphasis should be placed on Kelly’s blackface comments. People close to her allege that Kelly’s comments, for which she apologized on air, are mostly being used as an excuse for the company and NBC News Chairman Andy Lack to get rid of Kelly, whose show had floundered.
Freedman put out a statement this week in response to the Daily Mail story accusing NBC of leaking negative stories about his client:
Despite my efforts to handle this process confidentially, NBC News is allowing the media to run with completely false and irresponsible reports that disparage Megyn by erroneously claiming she has ever asked for more money than her contract requires. If NBC News is not the source then they have a responsibility as a news division to correct these false claims. Or are they somehow attempting to use these fabrications for some fictitious advantage in the discussions we’re having? If Andy Lack has lost control, my hope would be that Steve Burke can step in and not permit blatant lies about our discussions to remain uncorrected.
Meanwhile, Kelly has taken to Twitter to play the victim, claiming that since her firing from the TODAY show, she and her family have been hounded nonstop by the paparazzi:
1 of 2: For a week paparazzi has been lurking outside my home day & nite. Finally today I took my kids to school. I went out alone 1st, offered them donuts &begged them to just take their pic of me & to leave my kids alone when they emerged. All were nice. Except the Dailymail…
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 31, 2018
2 of 2: The DailyMail 1st published photos of my husb IN OUR HOME & then *did* photog my kids, trailed us to my daughter’s school, & secretly videotaped my 7-yr-old child (her classmates too) & posted it. THIS IS NOT RIGHT.
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 31, 2018
A spokesperson for NBC News issued a statement in response to Freedman’s remarks, saying: “Unlike Mr. Freedman, who has repeatedly commented to the media throughout the negotiations, we respect the confidentiality of the process, and will have no comment until it reaches its conclusion.”
Related: Blackface apologist Megyn Kelly deserves the hell she’s getting–and much more
Lacuevaman
she is evil. you can see it in her eyes
Onecaddy13
Slow down, explain how you determine evil in one’s eyes? NBC has a part in all this and you don’t find them evil? Hypocrisy at its best.
Lacuevaman
im just commenting on the evil she has in her eyes. NBC can be faulted for not seeing that months ago or risking that that evil would not come back and bite them.
DHT
I’m pretty sure she destroyed her own career.
Onecaddy13
No, I believe she had help with no backup. I have followed her since her lawyer days. She’s really a very bright and intelligent person, if your basing your decision on this one incident, you should be aware NBC has a history of ruining careers. Why did this news outlet hold out on Weinstein and Kavanaugh incidents? Because they’re biased and have an agenda. The one that needs to go,is Andy Lack.
Brian
The Weinstein and Kavanaugh incidents were barely a blip in the news. Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if it had been Fox News withholding information and running stories that contradicted what they were hiding?
Brian
Not a big deal, this is just lawyers doing lawyer stuff.
Onecaddy13
I truly believe that no matter what the fallout is in any big news story, The children should always be left alone. The media is brutal and young children are not at fault for adult decisions.
Metro135
I agree with you about the media harassing her children. But she destroyed her own career, not NBC. If she isn’t a blatant racist, she’s completely tone deaf. Santa Claus is white? Jesus is white? He was a sephardic Jew, not Scandinavian. And it’s perfectly OK to run around in blackface if it’s Halloween? Give me a break. I can’t imagine Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Jane Paulsen making remarks like this. In her heart of heart she’s another “Fox News blonde” and always will be.
OzJosh
LOL. Isn’t it interesting how right-wingers who insist everyone must be responsible for themselves are the first to blame everyone else when they stuff up? Kelly would object to the poor and disadvantaged receiving government support to cover the most basic living expenses, yet an already rich and entitled person like herself is somehow due $79million in compensation even when she is the one who messed up.
Brian
I hate to break it to you, but NBC isn’t funded by tax dollars.
o.codone
Kelly’s show sucked. She killed her own career when she started attacking Trump. Nobody really survives that. I think she should get the money bc a contract is a contract. Meanwhile how does Miss Don Lemon get away with the racist statements (s)he makes?
mfreeze7777
@OneCaddy13 I am so excited that you commented on this because it’s refreshing to hear a comment not laced with left Regurgitated opinions that are only quips they get without fact checking. She is a brilliant woman and isn’t even a Trump fan to my knowledge so it’s interesting why everyone is attacking her. She only stated what everyone else did is that the world for most of us adults was different back then. Sure if the purpose was to make fun of a particular race then that’s a problem. I myself am a lover of all cultures and it would be great to step into their shoes for a bit. ..wouldn’t we all need that! ? What infuriates me is that she is a brilliant & unbiased journalist who waa forced to apologize on screen yet where was the live apology from the ever migrane inducing Joy Behar when she insulted the Christian faith? Had it had been Muslim then it would have been hell to pay. There is crap on bith sides that has needed shoveling forever! It is preposterous to me that politics had become such a game vs actually trying to work with people and make a personal difference in the lives of everyone. Everything needs to be unbiased and I personally surround myself with many different types of people for that reason so knowledge is shared! ?????
Franklin
If she is so brilliant, why couldn’t she figure out how to keep her show?
startenout
If she’s so educated, how does she believe a middle Eastern Jewish man was white? If she is so brilliant, how was she born in 1970 and yet still ignorant to the fact that blackface has NEVER been okay in her lifetime other than inside her lily white enclaves?
Geeker
Megyn I’m guessing it’s you being a cold, stiff, openly racist bitch that ruined your career not NBC
Josh in OR
No, bitch. You ruined your OWN career by being a racist cracker-ass bitch, ya bitch.
Me2
NBC really stepped in it this time. They knew exactly what they were getting with her. But they were so desperate to try to lure female conservative viewers from Faux news that they ignored clear warnings, exaggerated Megyn’s worth, and sacrificed real journalistic talent in favor of her. So, yes, they absolutely should have to pay for their MAJOR FLUB! The execs who hired her should also be shown the door. Draining the swamp can be quite expensive, but they’re the ones who muddied the water.
Bob LaBlah
I personally don’t care for Megan and NEVER watched one of her shows but this time around I hope she wins. Her stint at Fox News is what made people rush to judgement on her but I don’t think she went overboard with her comment. She apologized to those whose ever whimper must be catered to but what more was she to do? If I’m sorry isnt good enough for what was perceived as a quick sand terrority topic she made then she is smart to leave. I guess ol’ Flatulence Freddie himself (Al Roker) can get his ratings disaster spot back. And besides, who really watches NBC in the morning?
gymmuscleboy
To Americans, it is a foregone conclusion that blackface is always wrong, but I think this perspective is actually born out of an inferiority complex. You don’t hear this kind of outrage when Sacha Baron Cohen plays an Eastern European. And In Australia and the UK (where the African population is much lower), it is not uncommon for popular comedy shows to feature blackface (eg. Little Britain, Come Fly With Me, various shows by Chris Liley). Allowing actors to play any gender, any class, and any race *except black* is racism of low expectations. When we must walk on eggshells around a certain race, it is still racism – this is not equality.
ChiChi Man
Such ignorance. Such stupidity. It’s not just blackface. Asians have long decried “yellow face” when a non-Asian attempts to play Asian characters. Same for Native Americans, Muslims, Latinos. Making fun of a race of people is racist.
gymmuscleboy
@ChiChi Man Yes, those shows have “yellow face”, too. It is hardly “making fun of a race of people”. When an actor plays a high school student, are they necessarily making fun of all high school students? What about when they wear glasses? Or when they wear a red wig? Or are these examples just an aspect of a character? Race adds a tremendous amount of depth to a character. How will you react if redheads complain that wearing a red wig is offensive to them – ban it from TV?