Megyn Kelly to Appear on Fox News in First Post-NBC Interview

Megyn Kelly to Appear on Fox News in First Post-NBC Interview
Megyn Kelly speaks onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2018 at Ritz Carlton Hotel in Laguna Niguel, California on Oct. 2, 2018. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Fortune)
Zachary Stieber
10/15/2019
Updated:
10/15/2019

Megyn Kelly will be appearing on Fox News this week in her first interview following her break with NBC last year.

Kelly worked at Fox for years before joining NBC in a high-profile move. Her show was suspended in October 2018 after she said people should be able to wear blackface or whiteface, and she and the network officially broke ties in January.

Kelly will be appearing on Tucker Carlson’s show on Oct. 16.

Carlson previewed Kelly’s appearance while speaking about undercover videos showing bias about CNN that leaked on Monday, including meetings featuring CNN head Jeff Zucker.

“Of course Jeff Zucker wasn’t always at CNN, he was at another channel for many years—he ran NBC for a decade—before that, he was the youngest executive producer at the ‘Today Show,’” Carlson told viewers on Monday night.

“Things have not changed that much at NBC since Zucker left, we’ve repeatedly told you the network tried to cover up the Harvey Weinstein story, they sent the Access Hollywood tape over to The Washington Post and they’re still lying about it.”

“Well this Wednesday night, two nights from now, someone who knows an awful lot about NBC is making her first TV appearance since parting ways with that channel nearly a year ago,” Carlson added.

“She’s got a lot to say. I hope you'll watch.”

Kelly’s scheduled appearance on Fox set off speculation she would be returning to the network.

Megyn Kelly in New York on May 5, 2016. (Victoria Will/Invision/AP/File)
Megyn Kelly in New York on May 5, 2016. (Victoria Will/Invision/AP/File)

“Megyn Kelly’s forthcoming guest appearance on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ was coordinated weeks ago and is a one-time occurrence. Any future programming changes we are considering do not involve her,” Fox News said in a statement, addressing the rumors.

Executives at Fox said publicly amid Kelly’s break with NBC that they didn’t have room for another primetime anchor and that they were happy with their lineup.

Shep Smith, a longtime anchor at the network, abruptly stepped down on Oct. 11, creating a spot that Kelly could conceivably fill.
For now, a rotating cast will fill Smith’s 3 p.m. slot. Bret Baier, Shannon Bream, Bill Hemmer, Brit Hume, John Roberts, and Chris Wallace will be among the Fox employees filling in.

Kelly has vowed to be back on television sometime this year and a report in February pegged October as her desired month of return.

Kelly has stayed vocal on a range of issues, sometimes weighing in on Twitter. After Brooke Nevils came forward to allege that former NBC anchor Matt Lauer raped her, Kelly responded to attacks against Nevils.

“The attacks being heaped on Brooke Nevils by ppl who have no clue how unchecked power can infect a workplace are deeply misguided,” Kelly wrote in a statement on Twitter.

“No sane person can think Lauer’s behavior here-that to which he *admits*-was anything less than abhorrent. How was he able to get away w/it so long?”

On Monday, Kelly shared a story about people deleting their Facebook accounts in response to CEO Mark Zuckerberg meeting with conservatives.

“This is insane and a sad commentary on our country,” she wrote.