Megyn Kelly is a former Fox News host who got her own 9 am weekday time slot on NBC in September. Since then she has become known as a champion of the Metoo movement regularly interviewing and promoting the causes of women fighting injustices. However, the host of Megyn Kelly Today has come under fire for some of the things she says and does on her show. She has been accused of fat shaming women on one show and her public on air feud with Jane Fonda on another show have resulted in a major backlash. More recently there has been talk about a negative environment in the workplace attributed to the host.
Mean to women
A former colleague of Megyn Kelly, Irene Halperin, a Fox News make-up artist, has come forward to say that her alliance with the Metoo movement is all a ruse. She says that Kelly is disrespectful, extremely rude and mean to women. She related one incident in 2009 when she worked with Megyn Kelly who was co-anchor of America Newsroom with Bill Hemmer. Megyn arrived earlier than her scheduled time and tried to take the spot of a fellow woman reporter. She ignored Halprin who told her to wait her turn and instead told the reporter to get out of the chair and the reporter complied with her demands. Irene claimed Kelly lied to management the day following the incident by saying she (Helprin) had child care issues and as a result was late for work.
Toxic work environment
Difficult and demanding is how Megyn Kelly's former co-worker describes her. If you didn't do as you were told, she said, you could expect to get into trouble. Both Halperin and another Fox employee who told her story to Page Six, said they asked to be reassigned to a different anchor because of Kelly's attitude.
At NBC, it is alleged that the environment is quite tense causing a lot of workers to be moved to tears. If the employees are having a difficult time dealing with Megyn, the guests on her show are not faring any better. From her attack on Jane Fonda's patriotism to upsetting actress Debra Messing by asking a Will & Grace fan if he became a lawyer and gay because of Will, the Megyn Kelly Today show has been attracting the wrong attention.
The future of the Megyn Kelly Today show
Making the transition from a hard-nosed political anchor on Fox News to co-anchor and talk show host on NBC has its challenges. Prior to her current role, she briefly hosted a magazine style slot on NBC called Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly. The question is whether Kelly will be able to finish her three year term with NBC for which she is paid $23 million a year. Ratings have not been good for the new show Megyn Kelly Today with a 30 percent lower rating than Tamron Hall and Al Roker her predecessors. Since its launch, the show is up 18 percent in the 25-54 audience but still not enough to satisfy NBC. There are concerns that she may be alienating the very audience and staff needed for the show's success.