Megyn Kelly waited until the final two minutes of her broadcast Tuesday night to address the news that had her at the top of Twitter’s trending topics for most of the day: her departure from Fox News.
“After more than a dozen years at Fox News, I have decided to pursue a new challenge,” Kelly said, speaking directly into the camera. “This was a tough decision for me, because I love this show, our staff, our crew, my colleagues here at Fox, and you, all of you.” She reached out to the fans who send her handwritten notes about her kids, as well as those who “very rarely” respond to her on Twitter after a show “or a presidential debate.”
The reason Kelly decided to leave Fox News for NBC News, she said, was so that she could have more “human connection” with her children, not because the network may be willing to pay her more or provide her with a better working environment following sexual-harassment allegations against the now-departed Fox News chief Roger Ailes.
ADVERTISEMENT
Confirming that she will leave Fox News at the end of this week, with her last show planned for Friday, Kelly pointedly stated that she will be joining the “journalists” at NBC News whom she “deeply admires.” She will host to a to-be-determined daytime news program in addition to a 60 Minutes-style news magazine show on Sunday nights.
“I am very grateful to NBC for this opportunity and I am deeply grateful to Fox News for the wonderful 12 years I’ve had here,” she said, singling out the Murdoch family in particular for their help along the way. Neither Bill O’Reilly before her or Sean Hannity after her acknowledged their colleague’s pending departure.
Announcing the news on Fox earlier in the afternoon, media reporter Howard Kurtz said, “As our viewers probably know, there has been something of a bidding war for Megyn Kelly’s services as her contract was due to expire this year.” But, he added, “This really, in the end, didn’t come down to money because Megyn Kelly would have made plenty of money wherever she went.”
Kelly’s use of the word “journalists” to describe her future colleagues may be the best indication yet of why she decided to leave Fox News after a dozen years.
Following the first presidential debate this past fall, Kelly said on Fox, “We’ve got Trump speaking to our own Sean Hannity. We’ll see whether he speaks to the journalists in this room after that interview.”
Perhaps she’s sick of being surrounded by men who she believes fail to meet that minimum standard.
