New York (AFP) - US journalist Megyn Kelly, one of the most recognizable faces on American television news, was off the air Thursday after sparking controversy with her comments about the use of blackface. NBC aired a rerun of her morning talk show, "Megyn Kelly Today," amid speculation that the gaffe would spell the end for the program hosted by the former attorney and Fox News anchor. NBC News reported that Kelly, 47, had parted ways with her agent over the incident. The Hollywood Reporter and CNN reported, citing unnamed sources, that her program would be ended after this season. During a Tuesday segment about Halloween costumes, Kelly questioned if blackface -- makeup traditionally used by non-black performers to mock African Americans -- was always problematic. "What is racist? Because, truly, you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween," she said. "When I was a kid, that was OK as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character." The comments sparked a quick backlash on social media, calls for Kelly's resignation and displeasure from her own colleagues. "While she apologized to the staff, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country," said veteran NBC weatherman Al Roker, who is black. On Wednesday, she opened his live show with an apology. "I'm Megyn Kelly and I want to begin with two words: I'm sorry," Kelly said. "I learned that given the history of blackface being used in awful ways by racists in this country, it is not OK for that to be part of any costume, Halloween or otherwise." She also welcomed two black panelists on the show to discuss the controversy. NBC News Chairman Andy Lack, speaking on Wednesday at a pre-scheduled event, said: "I condemn those remarks; there is no place on our air or in this workplace for them." Kelly earned fame as a longtime anchor for Fox News, notably sparring with Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election campaign. She left that network early last year and joined NBC. She has accused Fox co-founder Roger Ailes of sexually harassing her. Ailes died in May 2017.<doc-sep>Detroit News Wire Services Megyn Kelly was absent from her NBC News morning show on Thursday following this week’s controversy over her comments about blackface, amid indications that her time at the network could be ending after less than two years. An NBC spokeswoman said that “given the circumstances,” the network was airing repeats of “Megyn Kelly Today” on Thursday and Friday. The negotiations began before Kelly committed the major blunder on her program Tuesday, said the sources who were not authorized to comment on the discussions. During a segment about Halloween costumes on Tuesday, Kelly defended the use of blackface while discussing a character Luann deLesseps on “Real Housewives of New York City” who darkened her face for a Diana Ross costume and wore a gigantic Afro to portray the singer. During a round table chat on her show “Megyn Kelly Today,” she questioned why the use of blackface on Halloween was inappropriate, saying it was acceptable when she was a kid when portraying a character. Social media condemnation was swift, and Kelly apologized to fellow NBC staffers in an email later in the day. Yet both NBC’s “Nightly News” and the “Today” show did stories on their colleague’s comment. Al Roker said “she owes a big apology to people of color across the country.” She opened Wednesday’s show by saying she was wrong and sorry for what she said. “I have never been a PC kind of person, but I do understand the value of being sensitive to our history, particularly on race and ethnicity,” she said. The reference to political correctness in a discussion about blackface struck some critics as odd, along with the show’s cameras panning over the audience giving her a standing ovation for nearly 20 seconds. Kelly jumped from Fox News Channel to NBC in early 2017, but it hasn’t been a comfortable fit. Her one-hour morning show has never caught on with viewers, except for a brief bump when she aggressively covered reports about sexual misconduct, and Kelly was said to be unhappy with the amount of lighter material expected of a 9 a.m. show. Kelly did not respond to an email request seeking comment. The question now is whether the reaction to her blackface remarks will affect the discussion about her new role. Kelly has indicated to NBC News executives that she wants to be more involved in hard-news coverage. Kelly is scheduled to be part of NBC’s coverage of the midterm elections on Nov. 6. NBC aggressively covered the blackface flap on “NBC Nightly News” on Tuesday and again Wednesday on “Today” in a segment that was followed up with some harsh condemnation from two of the program’s African American co-hosts. Both of the taped segments contained clips of past racially insensitive remarks Kelly made when she was at Fox News, such as her insistence that Jesus Christ and Santa Claus are white. But her comments on blackface, in which she said she failed to see what was racist about using it for a Halloween costume, has drawn the fiercest criticism yet. (“Back when I was a kid, that was OK as long as you were dressing up as like a character,” she said). “The fact is, while she apologized to the staff she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country,” longtime “Today” personality Al Roker said on the program. “This is a history, going back to the 1830s, minstrel shows to demean and denigrate a race, wasn’t right. I’m old enough to have lived through ‘Amos ‘n’ Andy,’ where you had white people in blackface playing two black characters and it would just... magnifying the worst stereotypes about black people, and that’s what the big problem is.” “Today” news anchor Craig Melvin described Kelly on Wednesday as “a friend who said something stupid, who said something indefensible.” He was also skeptical that discussion about her remarks was a teachable moment, a notion that Kelly tried to convey in her email apology. “I guess it was an opportunity for us to learn a little bit more about blackface, but I think a lot of people knew about blackface before yesterday,” Melvin said. NBC News Chairman Andy Lack praised the comments by Melvin and Roker on Wednesday during a previously scheduled “town hall” session with the division, according to a person who attended the meeting. The attendee said Lack did not discuss Kelly’s future, but criticized her remarks. “There is no other way to put this but I condemn those remarks,” Lack said, according to the attendee. “There is no place on our air or in this workplace for them. Very unfortunate.” She met with NBC executives within the past month about dissatisfaction with the show’s direction, according to a person close to Kelly who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss personnel matters. Kelly last month publicly called for NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack to appoint outside investigators to look into why the network didn’t air Ronan Farrow’s stories about disgraced Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein and allowed him to take the material to the New Yorker. That’s a particular sore point with NBC’s management. She was also unhappy that accounts of Lack criticizing her for the blackface comments at the NBC internal town hall meeting became public, and fired her agent out of concern that his company’s representation of NBC News President Noah Oppenheim would be a conflict of interest, said the person close to Kelly. Yet the likelihood that a news executive’s comments before a roomful of journalists would remain secret is remote. NBC representatives said they had no comment beyond the discussion of why Kelly wasn’t on the air Thursday. All of this points toward a likely exit from NBC by Kelly, who has found it difficult to maintain a loyal constituency. Many of her former Fox News Channel viewers were upset by a perceived disloyalty in leaving and her clashes with President Donald Trump during his campaign. At the same time, her former association with Fox caused some NBC colleagues and viewers to regard her with suspicion.<doc-sep>“To me, I thought, why would it be controversial for someone dressing up as Diana Ross to make herself look like this amazing woman as a way of honoring and respecting her? I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry. The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep,” Kelly wrote. “I’ve never been a ‘pc’ kind of person — but I understand that we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age. Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year.”<doc-sep>While negotiations continue between Megyn Kelly and NBC, the network announced on Friday that her 9 a.m. talk show has been canceled. "Megyn Kelly Today is not returning," the network said in a statement. "Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other 'Today' co-anchors." Her exit from NBC News is not official yet. But it will be soon. It's a foregone conclusion among all the players involved, multiple sources said Thursday. Kelly's newly-hired attorney Bryan Freedman reacted to Friday's NBC announcement with a statement of his own. "Megyn remains an employee of NBC News and discussions about next steps are continuing," Freedman said. Multiple factors explain Kelly's impending exit from NBC. Her offensive comments this week about blackface Halloween costumes sealed her fate, but before the latest controversy erupted, NBC executives were already talking about a possible end to her one-year-old talk shows. Lower than expected ratings at 9 a.m. and serious tensions with management are some of the other key factors. Kelly has had no comment since Wednesday, when she appeared live on her show and apologized for the blackface comments. Thursday's live show was replaced by a pre-taped episode. Friday's show was also on tape. So it appears she will not be returning to the show to say goodbye to viewers.<doc-sep>
Megyn Kelly discussed Halloween costumes on her NBC show Tuesday morning with Melissa Rivers, Jenna Bush Hager, and guest host Jacob Soboroff. Kelly asked her panel why wearing blackface was racist when a person is dressing like a character. People were quick to criticize Kelly on social media, posting clips of the comments and calling the NBC host racist. Megyn Kelly on Tuesday apologized after a deluge of criticism came when she defended wearing blackface for Halloween on her talk show Tuesday morning. While speaking to Melissa Rivers, Jenna Bush Hager, and guest host Jacob Soboroff on "Megyn Kelly Today," Kelly asked why wearing blackface was racist. "But what is racist? You truly do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person who puts on white face for Halloween," she asked her panel. "That was OK when I was a kid, as long as you were dressing like a character." People were quick to criticize Kelly on social media, posting clips of the comments and calling the NBC host a racist. Among her criticizers was "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi, who called Kelly's comments "damaging." The discussion was part of a segment on Kelly's show in which the panel was talking about universities cracking down on inappropriate and offensive costumes. In the clip, Kelly referenced "Real Housewives of New York"'s Luann de Lesseps, who darkened her skin to dress as Diana Ross for Halloween last year. After an episode showing the costume aired in April, de Lesseps apologized, saying she didn't mean to offend anyone. Kelly questioned why people were offended by de Lessep's costume. "I don't see how that is racist on Halloween," she said. "Who doesn’t love Diana Ross?" People took to Twitter to criticize Kelly's statements. —Kimberly Nicole Foster (@KimberlyNFoster) October 23, 2018 Kelly's cohosts were less supportive of the costume, however. "I haven't seen it, but it sounds pretty racist to me," Soboroff said, with Bush Hager adding: "Me too." Kelly later apologized for her comments in an internal email seen by The Hollywood Reporter. She recounted the segment in her email, saying she "suggested that this seemed okay if done as part of this holiday where people have the chance to make themselves look like others." "I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry," she wrote. "The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep." She went on to say that people have to be "more sensitive in this day and age," noting she has never been a "'pc' kind of person." "Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year. This is a time for more understanding, love, sensitivity and honor, and I want to be part of that. I look forward to continuing that discussion," she wrote. This isn't the first time Kelly been criticized for her comments about race. In 2013, Kelly declared Santa Claus and Jesus were white and said there was no need to change their race. "Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change," she said on Fox News. Kelly said that Jesus' race was a matter of "historical fact."