Megyn Kelly’s Lawyer Wants Ronan Farrow to Sit on NBC Meeting

Megyn Kelly’s attorney has reportedly asked Ronan Farrow to sit in on a meeting with NBC executives, which could be as soon as Friday.

A source told Page Six that Kelly’s lawyer, Brian Freedman, “has requested that Ronan Farrow attend, so he can be a witness.” However, TMZ is reporting that NBC has already rejected the request.

Sources also told The Wall Street Journal late Thursday that Kelly and NBC News already started exit negotiations. A source also told Cheddar journalist Hope King that the exit deal is “not done yet.”

Kelly has been under fire since Tuesday morning, when she defended blackface Halloween costumes during a panel on Megyn Kelly Today after they debated a Real Housewives of New York castmember’s Diana Ross costume from last year.

“But what is racist?” Kelly asked the panelists. “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. Back when I was a kid that was ok, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.”

Kelly later issued a written apology to NBC staffers, which was also made public.

“One of the wonderful things about my job is that I get the chance to express and hear a lot of opinions,” Kelly wrote. “Today is one of those days where listening carefully to other points of view, including from friends and colleagues, is leading me to rethink my own views.”

She also issued an apology to open her Wednesday show.

“I want to begin with two words: I’m sorry,” she told her audience. “You may have heard that yesterday we had a conversation about political correctness and Halloween costumes… I defended the idea [of black face], saying that as long it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay. Well, I was wrong, and I am sorry.”

NBC aired a repeat of Megyn Kelly Today Thursday morning and her staff has reportedly been reassigned.

Part of Kelly’s exit package could include paying her the rest of the three-year, $69 million contract they signed her to early last year. Freedman is reportedly demanding a $50 million settlement.

According to TMZ‘s report, Freedman is planning to make his case by accusing NBC of targeting Kelly “early on” because of her remarks about Matt Lauer after he was fired for sexual harassment and comments about her boss, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack.

Freedman claims Kelly was also not invited to a staff town hall where her colleagues reportedly complained about her. In addition, Kelly’s team also wishes to point out that MSNBC’s Joy Reid still has a job at NBC, even after her controversial blog posts from before she joined NBC resurfaced.

Even before the blackface comment, Kelly’s show was not being met with the enthusiasm NBC might have hoped for. Even Kelly herself said she though the show leaned too heavily on lighter fare.

“The question for us is whether that content will resonate enough at 9 a.m. for the show to be considered a commercial success,” she told Us Weekly last month. “My own takeaway is, if that content doesn’t work at 9 a.m. and if all that works at 9 a.m. is much lighter fare, then I have a decision to make because I’m not going to do that.”

Farrow has also clashed with NBC News, which did not publish his report on sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein last year. NBC News has said the story was not ready to be published, but Farrow has disputed NBC’s version of events.

Photo credit: Mikhail Klimentyev\TASS via Getty Images