Megyn Kelly Attacks Jane Fonda
by EG
Did you forget that Megyn Kelly, host of NBC's Megyn Kelly Today, used to be a fiery commentator on the conservative Fox News network? Kelly reminded everyone of her right-wing roots on Monday as she went after Jane Fonda, using Fonda's past as an anti-war activist in the Vietnam era as ammunition in an all-out assault on Fonda. There has been bad blood between Kelly and Fonda since they clashed in the first week of Kelly's NBC show. That incident set the tone for what has been a rocky start for the show, and Kelly seems not to have forgiven or forgotten.
Apparently Megyn Kelly has had enough. The Today anchor laid into Jane Fonda on her 9 a.m. program Monday, and used Fonda’s actions during the Vietnam War to make her point.
The bad blood harkens back to September, when Kelly asked Fonda about her plastic surgery. It was the premiere week of Kelly’s program, and Fonda was on the show along with Robert Redford to promote their Netflix film Our Souls at Night about the romance between two octogenarian neighbors. When Kelly asked Fonda, 80, about aging and her openness about the plastic surgery she’s had, Fonda became combative and snapped: “We really want to talk about that now?”
The interview never really got back on track, and Fonda continued to criticize Kelly during subsequent media appearances, including as recently as last week.
Speaking directly to the camera during the final minutes of her program, Kelly said she tried to brush it off, but claimed that Fonda “appears to be fixated on an exchange.”
“When she first complained, I chose to say nothing,” Kelly told her audience, adding, “It’s time to address the 'poor me' routine.”
Kelly said that Fonda was promoting a film “about aging. To her credit, she has discussed her cosmetic surgery pretty much everywhere before coming on our show.”
Cue several clips of Fonda talking about her surgery during TV appearances, including on NBC's Today and CNN’s Larry King Live.
"She said the same to Entertainment Tonight. To Access Hollywood. To W magazine for a cover piece. To The Guardian. I could go on," said Kelly. "Apparently when she came here, however, again to promote her film about aging, I was supposed to discern that this subject was suddenly off-limits".
Kelly said she has “no regrets about that question. Nor am I in the market for a lesson from Jane Fonda on what is or is not appropriate.”
And that’s when she brought up Vietnam. Fonda has a long history of activism, but her entrée into activism in the early 1970s when the country was gripped by violent Vietnam War protests has continued to define her. She was dubbed “Hanoi Jane” for appearing in a photo on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
Do you think Megyn Kelly was justified in her attack on Jane Fonda? Let us know in the comments below.