CBS This Morning host, Gayle King, is the latest on-air personality to criticize Megyn Kelly for a controversy she waded into this week after making comments questioning why it is racist to wear blackface on Halloween.
King offered her thoughts during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Thursday.
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“I know Megyn Kelly. I happen to like Megyn Kelly,” she said. “She and I went to the Kentucky Derby two years ago, and we bonded. I think she’s a very smart cookie, very smart at what she does.”
“I think she clearly stepped in it. She made a terrible mistake,” King added of Kelly’s recent comments. “And I was surprised that she would make a mistake of that kind.”
Kelly has been involved in multiple controversies in the past, of which King noted, “She has said a couple of things, but I never wish bad on anybody. I don’t. I’m not a Pollyanna girl, but I do feel that this is a rough time for her.”
It was reported on Thursday that Kelly has been fired from NBC, with the network confirming the news on Friday afternoon.
“Megyn Kelly Today is not returning. Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other ‘Today’ co-anchors,” the peacock network said in a statement.
No details on who or what will replace Kelly’s morning show were immediately available.
Kelly made her comments on Tuesday’s hour of her show, Megyn Kelly Today, while speaking to a panel.
“Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween,” she said. “Back when I was a kid that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.”
The host immediately received swift and loud backlash, with Kelly later issuing an apology.
“I want to begin with two words: I’m sorry,” she told her audience on Wednesday. “You may have heard that yesterday we had a discussion here about political correctness and Halloween costumes. And that conversation turned to whether it is ever okay for a person of one race to dress up as another: a black person making their face lighter or a white person making their face darker to make a costume complete. I defended the idea, saying as long as it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay. Well, I was wrong. And I’m sorry.”
TODAY Show co-host Al Roker previously criticized Kelly on air during Wednesday’s broadcast.
“Look, the fact is, while she apologized to the staff, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country,” Roker said. “Because this is a history going back to the 1830s minstrel shows to demean and denigrate a race — it wasn’t right.”
Photo Credit: Getty / Bryan Bedder
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 28: (L-R) William Bumpus Jr. and Gayle King attend the Premiere of Netflix's "Colin In Black And White" at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 28, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
