Megyn Kelly's NBC show has experienced serious issues behind the scenes, a source tells ET.
Megyn Kelly's NBC show has experienced serious issues behind the scenes even prior to Kelly's widely criticized comments on Tuesday defending blackface in Halloween costumes, a source tells ET.
Kelly is still facing fallout from her comments -- which she tearfully apologized for on-air on Wednesday -- and will not appear on her show for the rest of the week, an NBC News spokesperson confirmed to ET. ET has also learned that Kelly called a meeting with her staff following Wednesday’s broadcast, one day after her controversial on-air comments. The source says Kelly apologized again for her comments about blackface at the meeting but made no mention about the show possibly ending at the end of its season in December. According to multiple reports, Megyn Kelly Today is expected to come to a close before 2019.
But the source says that Wednesday’s meeting is not the first that the 47-year-old journalist has held, and there have been similar meetings with staff in the past. According to the source, her talk show has been chaotic and dysfunctional behind the scenes since the show’s premiere in September 2017.
“I’ve felt the show was coming to an end in December no matter what," the source says. "It was clear that it was not working and there is a lot of dysfunction.”
The source says Wednesday’s briefing was “very similar to previous meetings following gaffes” on her NBC show, including Kelly's highly publicized feud with actress Jane Fonda last September, in which Fonda criticized her for asking her about her plastic surgery during their interview.
The source claims that this past spring, Kelly also held a meeting with her team where she told staffers that they shouldn't leak to the media because they are all family and it hurts not just her, but everyone that works there. The source claims the TV personality “said bluntly that if anyone doesn’t want to work for her that they should go to management.”
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 claims that the three producers were reassigned within three different divisions at the network.
One particular issue that bookers and producers regularly dealt with, the source says, was convincing guests to come on the show. The source says that the staff would constantly hit roadblocks when it came to booking guests, especially public figures.
Interestingly enough, following Kelly's controversial remarks, the House of Cards cast cancelled their scheduled appearance for next week on Kelly's show.
Meanwhile, Kelly has yet to respond to reports of her show coming to an end. In her apology on Wednesday's show, the former Fox News host did express that she had changed her stance on blackface after listening to others' opinions.
"I defended the idea, saying as long as it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed OK," she explained. "Well, I was wrong and I am sorry."
"One of the great parts of sitting in this chair each day is getting to discuss different points of view," she continued. "Sometimes I talk and sometimes I listen, and yesterday, I learned. 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. I have never been a ‘PC’ kind of person but I do understand the value in being sensitive to our history, particularly on race and ethnicity. This past year has been so painful for many people of color, the country feels so divided, and I have no wish to add to that pain and offense. I believe this is a time for more understanding, more love, more sensitivity and honor and I want to be part of that. Thank you for listening and for helping me listen, too.”
On Thursday, an NBC spokesperson told ET, "Given the circumstances, Megyn Kelly Today will be on tape the rest of the week."
For more on the fallout from Kelly's comments, watch the video below:
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