Megyn Kelly Ready To Battle With NBC For $23 Million Contract
“Given the circumstances, ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ will be on tape the rest of the week,” NBC News announced on Thursday. The network opted to air a taped episode of Kelly’s show on Thursday rather than have her air live, as she was scheduled to do.
“The circumstances” would be Megyn Kelly’s offensive remarks about wearing blackface with Halloween costumes during her Tuesday episode, an event that has now blossomed into a full-fledged scandal at NBC, despite numerous attempts at damage control.
After making her insensitive remarks on Tuesday, Megyn Kelly opened her Wednesday show with a lengthy apology to her viewers. She already apologized to everyone else who works at NBC on Tuesday evening in a letter written to the network’s other employees.
Clearly none of this worked, as rumors swirled Wednesday night that Kelly is, in fact, being fired from her Megyn Kelly Today show on NBC. Reports on Wednesday said that the network was trying to find Kelly a new role, perhaps covering hard news stories — something Kelly did previously when she was working for Fox News.
NBC cancels Megyn Kelly Today.
Will she go back to Fox News? #ComplexNews https://t.co/M8qngFiquV
— Complex (@Complex) October 25, 2018
Kelly was previously scheduled to be part of NBC’s election night coverage for the midterms in two weeks, but this no longer seems very likely. In the wake of the blackface controversy, Kelly’s talent agency dropped her earlier this week.
Now, Kelly has hired an attorney, according to CNN. Her legal counsel will be meeting with NBC executives on Friday. This makes it appear as though Kelly may be trying to receive the money left on her contract. She was hired by NBC for a whopping $23 million per year for three years. Kelly is about halfway through this three-year span, meaning the NBC still technically owes her $23 million at minimum.
Both sides may be headed into a legal battle, if NBC balks at buying out Kelly’s contract.
Reportedly, Kelly was already skating on thin ice with NBC before the blackface controversy on Tuesday. Kelly experienced some early setbacks on her morning show, which debuted in September, 2017, and the entertainment news stories she covers on her morning show are a departure from the political news she was known for covering with Fox News.
Multiple sources are saying that Kelly’s show has been cancelled, according to Yahoo! News, though these rumors have not been confirmed.
NBC hasn’t responded to requests for comments, nor has the network made any official announcements regarding Kelly’s fate with NBC News.
