Megyn Kelly Now Allowed to Work for Other Outlets Amid NBC and ‘Today’ Split

Megyn Kelly is reportedly allowed to work for other networks as exit talks continue with NBCUniversal, more than a month after NBC News cancelled Megyn Kelly Today over her blackface comments.

Sources told Variety Kelly can take another job at a media outlet if offered, and there will be no non-compete restrictions. According to the outlet, most of the issues between Kelly and NBCUniversal are “largely resolved.” Lawyers are still working on legal issues and “minor disparities.”

Kelly is expected to pocket a $30 million exit deal, equaling the rest of her contract.

Kelly’s relationship with NBC fell apart after she surprisingly defended blackface costumes during a panel on her show about offensive Halloween costumes on Oct. 23. The former Fox News host apologized multiple times in the days that followed, including in an emotional segment in what turned out to be her final Today episode.

“I have never been a [politically correct] kind of person, but I do understand the value of being sensitive to our history, particularly on race and ethnicity,” Kelly told her audience at the time. “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.”

By the end of that week, the Megyn Kelly Today staff began to be reassigned and exit negotiations began. Megyn Kelly Today was formally cancelled on Oct. 26.

After the show was cancelled, Kelly’s attorneys and NBC traded barbs in the press, with attorney Bryan Freedman accusing NBC News of leaking confidential information to the press. NBC denied those claims. Earlier this week, a source told The Blast that Kelly suddenly stopped talking to NBC.

In late November, Kelly gave her first interview since the scandal, but did not discuss her feelings towards NBC. Instead, she discussed her father’s death a week before Christmas when she was 15 years old.

“It was a sudden heart attack, and it changed my family forever. My last sight of him was of him sitting on the couch, looking at the Christmas tree,” Kelly told DailyMailTV. “What I wouldn’t give now to have that moment back. To have just one more chance to tell him how much I love him.”

It is not clear where Kelly could end up after leaving NBC. Sources told Variety that CBS News, ABC News and CNN executives are either not interested at the moment or could not find the right spot for her.

As for a return to Fox News, that could be out of the cards as well. 21st Century Fox executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch recently said he is not interested in changing his talent line-up.

“I’m very happy with our current line-up on Fox News and we won’t be making any changes there,” Murdoch said at a conference. When asked if Kelly could still find a job somewhere, Murdoch replied, “I hope she does because she’s very talented.”

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