In a move described by Fox News as “unprecedented”, Mr Trump later refused to participate in shows hosted by Ms Kelly. In recent months, reports leaked from the network that Kelly, who was once seen as the future of Fox News in the event of a Hillary Clinton presidency, lost ground among her colleagues once Trump won.
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She also clashed with former Fox News chief Roger Ailes, who left the top-rated news organization he helped shape over accusations of sexual harassment.
Details on when Kelly, whose current contract expires in the summer, would make her NBC debut were not announced.
“While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge”, Kelly said in a message on Twitter on Tuesday. Fox News also beat CNN in the critical 25-54 demo after finishing second to CNN in October.
Kelly is leaving the network that made her famous after 12 years at the company.
Kelly later complained about getting death threats from pro-Trump supporters. O’Reilly even called the 76-year-old Ailes “the best boss I ever had”.
There’s some evidence to suggest bolstering her net worth may not have been the primary motivation for Kelly’s departure. “We have a deep bench of talent, many of whom would give their right arm for her spot”, Rupert Murdoch, who stepped in as CEO of Fox News after Ailes’ ouster, told The Wall Street Journal. The competition has been looking for ways to shrink the Fox News lead.
Megyn Kelly has been an important fixture not just on Fox News but in the media business especially in the run-up to the US presidential election.
In 2014 Megyn Kelly was included in Time magazine’s most influential 100 people’s list. Some commenters said Kelly would be much more at home on a “liberal” network like NBC. “After more than a dozen years at Fox News, I have made a decision to pursue a new challenge”.
The move was confirmed by NBC this morning.
Good riddance. You will be the next Katie Couric. NBC’s magazine show “Rock Center” was canceled in 2013 after two seasons.
The announcement isn’t going over too well with some of her followers though, as many have been flooding the comment section with less-than enthusiastic responses.
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It’s worth remembering that Kelly, who did not deserve the ugly sexist rhetoric sent her way by Trump and others during this campaign, has also been a key contributor to the right wing echo chambers’ deft use of racist fearmongering in all things.
