Megyn Kelly pulled out all the stops on Monday for her return to Fox News in a bombshell performance that was mostly pomp and not substance.
The unemployed mother-of-three hit all the expected marks during her appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight, as she hit out at former employer NBC, belittled anti-Trump liberals and expressed exasperation about ‘outrage culture.’
This all culminated with a closing segment in which Kelly warmed up to viewers at home by sharing the joy she is experiencing as she raises her three children as a full-time mom.
There was no mention of course of the pro-blackface comments that led to her extended time off the air, or of the $69 million she pocketed despite being terminated just 13 months into a three-year contract.
It was not entirely predictable however, as Kelly did debut a new look for her big night which involved some very tousled hair and a sleek black dress from Balmain, that retails for $1650.
The hair and look combined to give her the look of a Robert Palmer video vixen. Or Cruella de Vil.
Kelly did not make any concrete accusations against NBC as she discussed Ronan Farrow and his reporting on the program, and instead peddled a laundry list of hypothetical scenarios throughout the interview.
She questioned if the network valued ‘dollars over decency’ at one point, and later hinted that there was a network bias against Brett Kavanaugh.
Kelly did land one clean blow against her former employer however, when she pointed out the NBC never conducted an external investigation of the network after the Matt Lauer scandal, something that both Fox News and CBS did after claims of sexual misconduct and abuse of power came to light at the networks.
Bombshell: Megyn Kelly went after NBC, anti-Trump liberals, outrage culture and the media bias towards Brett Kavanugh during her big Fox News return on Wednesday
Pomp: She called on NBC to let Matt Lauer’s accusers out of their confidentiality agreements while appearing on Tucker Carlson Live
Mother Tucker: Kelly also claimed that she left NBC to raise her three children, while glossing over the pro-blackface remarks that gave her the time off and $69M to do so
Hitting her mark: The former anchor also called on NBC to have an external investigation done at the network, noting Fox News and CBS did this after allegations of misconduct
Cruella: Kelly wore a sleek Balmain dress, lots of silver jewelry and debuted a new tousled ‘do for her return to television
Armed with a notepad and some carefully typed notes, Kelly started off the interview a bit wooden and clearly nervous as she recapped Farrow’s book Catch and Kill for the Fox News audience.
‘As I watched the Ronan story unfold, the one thing I wanted to know is what did they know and when did they know it,’ Kelly told Carlson, referring to the Lauer scandal at NBC.
‘I had been reporting on the story even while I was at NBC. I talked to Ronan. I talked to his producer Rich McHugh, I talked to Rose McGowan. I talked to many Harvey Weinstein victims and accusers and was getting to the bottom of what NBC knew while I was there. And then just independently.’
She then added: ‘The question is what did they know about Matt Lauer prior to the time the woman came forward who was ultimately his downfall?’
It is unclear if Kelly never got an answer to that question or has been contractually silenced, but either way she did not divulge any clues to her query during her appearance.
Carlson himself tried to get an answer at one point, asking if it was plausible that NBC had no knowledge about Lauer’s history of sexual misconduct.
‘If they had no settlements of any kind and no complaints about Matt Lauer prior to Brooke Nevils coming forward, sure, it might be. But is it true?’ asked Kelly.
She then said that the network could have hidden these settlements using an ‘enhanced severance.’
Kelly explained: ‘That’s the situation where the receptionist is suddenly getting a seven-figure goodbye.’
This was all for the benefit of viewers and not Carlson or his guest, as enhanced severances were a frequent practice of their old boss, Roger Ailes.
Kelly, who played a major role in the sea change at Fox News that led to the ousting of Ailes, then lay down the gauntlet for NBC.
‘The number one thing that needs to happen now is they need to release any and all Matt Lauer accusers from their confidentiality agreements. NBC says it has nothing to hide. Great. Let’s not hide anything,’ said Kelly.
‘Show us all of the agreements, the enhanced severance agreements reached or at least the number so we can see which ones pop out and which ones are super high. Are they all women? Do they all have a connection with Matt Lauer? Release the women from their confidentiality obligations.’
Talk then turned to investigations, with Carlson teeing Kelly up by noting the fact that NBC used internal employees to investigate how claims of sexual misconduct were handled at the network.
‘There’s a question of the faith and confidence of the public and the reporting of NBC on matters involving itself. To me as a lawyer, it’s just always better if you send it outside,’ said Kelly.
‘Then people can have more faith in it and if there’s nothing to hide, you have no worries about it. You have nothing to worry about.’
Carlson then asked Kelly point black if she felt that NBC News president Noah Oppenheim should or would be fired.
‘No comment on that. I will say the question is open as to whether they put dollars ahead of decency,’ replied Kelly.
‘If they were more interested in protecting their star anchor than protecting the women of the company.’
She then went back to her previous talking point, stating: ‘There needs to be an outside investigation into this company. They investigated themselves. That doesn’t work.
‘Fox News had an outside investigator. CBS had an outside investigator. NPR, the NFL. This is how it’s done. You get somebody on the outside.’
Carlson later cancelled a pre-taped segment featuring Dennis Rodman to speak more with Kelly about her life after NBC.
‘I left Fox News in January of ’17 and the reason I left is because I wanted to be with my family. I was missing my kids’ childhood. They were little. 7, 5, 3. I could still see it and be part of it,’ said Kelly.
‘Now I’m doing it. I’ve spent the past year in particular but even before that, with them and I am mothering my own kids. There is no substitute for that.’