NBC Doesn't Want to Pay Off Megyn Kelly's Contract
by EG
NBC was eager to promise Megyn Kelly a huge contract to lure her away from Fox News. But now that her performance at NBC has been so underwhelming, the network reportedly wnts to get rid of her without honoring the contract. Read on for details.
Via Deadline.
Megyn Kelly is off the air and heading toward the door at NBC, but it looks like any exit won’t be as smooth as the former Fox News Channel host may have anticipated. Over the weekend and today, increasingly intractable NBC News boss Andy Lack has made it clear in talks with Kelly’s reps that a hefty payout for the rest of her $69 million contract is a non-starter, well-positioned sources tell Deadline.
“A lot has changed in the last year and this isn’t looking like a ‘Here’s your check, let’s call it a day’ resolution now,” a network insider said Monday, noting the Megyn Kelly Today host’s latest stumble last week with her ill-considered blast-from-the-past on-air defense of “blackface” Halloween costumes as the final straw in her stint at the network, which began just more than a year ago.
“This crossed a line for us and no one wants to reward what was unacceptable behavior by Megyn or anyone else,” says another source at the Comcast-owned company, even though a tearful Kelly apologized on-air the next day. As initial disentanglement talks between NBC and attorney Bryan Freedman commenced Friday, Kelly’s 9 AM ET show was formally canceled as the uproar over her comments continued to rise.
Adding to the flux of negotiation drama, Lack is still feeling the sting from his protective handling in the 2015 Brian Williams wrist-slapped lying scandal and the long-standing harassing behavior of now ex-Today co-host Matt Lauer, whom Lack pink-slipped in November of last year. Hard questions about Lack’s judgment have also come up regarding Ronan Farrow being warned off pursuing his investigation sexual assault and sexual harassment claims against Harvey Weinstein. Eventually, Farrow walked away from NBC News and took his efforts to the New Yorker, where he pulled back the curtain on the now-disgraced Oscar-winning producer and his crew of facilitators and intimidators. Farrow’s articles resulted in a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year.
Get the rest of the story at Deadline.
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