NBC head says the wrong timeslot — not defending blackface — led to Megyn Kelly's failure at 'Today'
Now that Megyn Kelly‘s settlement with NBC is complete, all parties are ready to move on. Kelly — who will receive the remaining $30 million of her $69 million, three-year contract — said she’s planning to return to TV this year, and NBC is trying to regain control of the narrative.
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke did an interview with Variety in which he said he was “100% behind Andy” Lack, the NBC News chief who brought in — and then ushered out — Kelly. He also shouldered some of the blame for the Kelly debacle, saying, “I went over and told [Kelly] she should come here” from Fox News.
And while Burke went on to call Kelly a “huge talent,” he said that giving her the third hour of the Today show was a mistake. “She was at the wrong time of day,” he said. “In hindsight, we shouldn’t have done it.”
What he didn’t mention was that Kelly’s Today show was canceled after she said that there was no reason white people shouldn’t dress up in blackface on Halloween. Or the fact that Kelly did have a primetime news show on NBC — Alex Jones, the controversial conspiracy theorist founder of InfoWars, was an early guest — that was short-lived. But the internet hasn’t forgotten, and those are the comments — among others — all over the internet today following Burke’s interview.
when is the right time of day for #racism?
— MJJJusticeProject (@MJJJusticePrjct) January 14, 2019
A huge talent? Yeah, providing Alex Jones with a platform was such an achievement.
— SFJones8 (@SFJones8) January 14, 2019
A huge talent?? I don’t get that..she is prickly. She’s not interesting to watch, not warm, charismatic or overly intelligent. I have no clue why she’s given the time of day by any network.
— lake lady (@MadelineGalstl) January 14, 2019
Nobody likes her. She is not a huge talent. You gambled on a blonde and lost NBC.
— Loretta Barnes (@Loretta4IN13) January 15, 2019
Nope, missed it again Stevie boy, the mistake was the hire.
— Stray Dogg (@ubuibme87) January 15, 2019
Is there a “right time of day” for racism?
— Jesse (@bazingazoo) January 14, 2019
She had her Sunday night news magazine show and if I’m not mistaken (I’m not), ratings were beyond dismal, so what’s his point? I know, hiring her, regardless of what time of day she appeared, was a huge mistake. Costly too, not to mention, a HUGE insult to NBC news talent.
— ZenWen (@wlft1) January 14, 2019
Uh-huh. pic.twitter.com/DNA3PAkKnJ
— Cynthia Peachy Dory (@Ab_Synthia2) January 14, 2019
In the interview, Burke also briefly addressed the question of Matt Lauer. While talking about the “drumbeat” building from people who told him “you gotta fire” Andy Lack, Burke said “a lot of that was really unfair. Matt Lauer was a grenade that we didn’t know was a grenade. I was here seven years, and I thought Matt Lauer was the greatest interviewer in news.”
With Kelly’s settlement with NBC resolved, the TV personality is ready to get back to work. Last week, while out with her husband in NYC, she told a TMZ reporter that she will be back on TV later this year.
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