Looks like Megyn Kelly and NBC may be gearing up for a fight.
Looks like Megyn Kelly and NBC may be gearing up for a fight.
Megyn Kelly Today was officially canceled on Friday after she faced intense criticism for defending blackface in Halloween costumes, and multiple reports stated that the 47-year-old journalist is completely out at NBC after making her debut on the network last June. But on Tuesday, Kelly's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, hit back at NBC News, claiming that the network was allowing the media to run with "completely false and irresponsible reports that disparage Megyn."
“Despite my efforts to handle this process confidentially, NBC News is allowing the media to run with completely false and irresponsible reports that disparage Megyn by erroneously claiming she has ever asked for more money than her contract requires,” Freedman said in a statement obtained my multiple outlets. “If NBC News is not the source then they have a responsibility as a news division to correct these false claims. Or are they somehow attempting to use these fabrications for some fictitious advantage in the discussions we’re having?"
Freedman went on to slam Andy Lack, the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC.
"If Andy Lack has lost control, my hope would be that [CEO of NBCUniversal] Steve Burke can step in and not permit blatant lies about our discussions to remain uncorrected," the statement concludes.
An NBC News spokesperson responded on Wednesday in a statement to ET.
“Unlike Mr. Freedman, who has repeatedly commented to the media throughout the negotiations, we respect the confidentiality of the process, and will have no comment until it reaches its conclusion," the statement reads.
ET has also reached out to Kelly's rep for comment.
Kelly has yet to make a statement about Megyn Kelly Today getting canceled, but on Wednesday, she took to Twitter to slam The Daily Mail for allegedly secretly following her 7-year-old daughter to school and videotaping her.
She also tearfully apologize for her blackface comments on-air one day after she made the controversial remarks.
Kelly announced she was leaving Fox News for NBC last January, and ET confirmed that Kelly signed a multi-year agreement with the network that included her hosting her own daytime news program, anchoring a Sunday evening news show and taking part in special political programming and other breaking news coverage. At the time, Lack said in a statement, "Megyn is an exceptional journalist and news anchor, who has had an extraordinary career. She's demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and we're lucky to have her."
But a source told ET last week that Kelly's NBC show has been chaotic and dysfunctional behind the scenes since the show’s premiere in September 2017. According to the source, three of Kelly’s producers went to the network’s management this past summer “to demand to be taken off of the show because of all the chaos and bullsh** [behind the scenes].” The source claimed that the three producers were reassigned within three different divisions at the network.
“I’ve felt the show was coming to an end in December no matter what," the source said. "It was clear that it was not working and there is a lot of dysfunction.”
For the latest on Kelly, watch the video below:
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