September 29, 2017

Megyn Kelly’s First Week at NBC Got Attention for All the Wrong Reasons

She might be done with politics. But Kelly’s talent for delivering cringeworthy moments remains.

It’s Friday and Megyn Kelly might need something stronger than a mimosa to get her to the weekend.

Despite her new NBC morning show’s promise to be a “fun and uplifting” experience, Kelly’s debut this week has been anything but. Megyn Kelly Today, which premiered Monday, was widely panned by critics, many who say the clunky rollout has only underscored NBC’s inability to figure out just what to do with Kelly in its roster. Early numbers also indicate the show is struggling to find an audience. 

The former Fox News host has had trouble interviewing her celebrity guests. Strung together, the segments show that while Kelly might profess to be done with politics, her reputation for delivering cringeworthy moments is far from over.

Here are some of the worst moments from Kelly’s debut this week: 

While interviewing the cast of Will & Grace, Kelly asks a fan whether he “became gay” after watching the character Will:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVwoImSnds  

She then repeatedly referred to his sexuality as the “gay thing:” The fan took the question in stride, but her choice of words and questions did not go unnoticed. Debra Messing later said she regretted appearing on the show, saying she was unaware that the cast’s PR tour included a stop on Kelly’s show: 

Kelly asks Jane Fonda about her plastic surgery, clearly irritating the legendary actress. “We really want to talk about that right now?” Fonda shot back. 

Ignoring Kelly’s question, Fonda proceeded to discuss her upcoming movie with Robert Redford: “Seemed like the wrong time and place to ask that question,” Fonda later told Entertainment Tonight.

A member of Kelly’s camera crew accidentally gets in front of a shot. Upon realizing, he says “shit!” on live television:

And off air, midway into her first week, Elle publishes an interview with Kelly where she appears to blame ESPN’s Jemele Hill for courting controversy for calling Donald Trump a white supremacist:

Kelly’s response drew criticism on social media. Hill also weighed in with a succinct “LOL”:

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate