Megyn Kelly made her big Today show debut Monday morning, and the longtime former Fox News anchor kicked off her show by announcing bluntly that she’s done talking politics. “As you’ve heard we have the entire cast of Will and Grace here live along with the show creators,” she told her studio audience. “And then we will be dissecting the latest tweet from President Trump. Oh no, we will not do that. We will not be doing that. The truth is, I am kind of done with politics for now.”
So how is that working out for her? Well, when Kelly later brought the aforementioned cast out on stage, she had a surprise Will and Grace superfan waiting in the audience — a lawyer named Russel Turner who had been inspired by the NBC comedy. Taking Russel aside, Kelly asked him, “Is it true that you became a lawyer, and became gay, because of Will?”
To his credit, the fan took her question in stride, especially when Kelly announced that she was giving him tickets to a live taping of the show’s revival as well as a hotel, airfare, and behind-the-scenes set tour. To close out the segment, she said, “I think the Will and Grace thing and the gay thing is gonna work out great.”
One could argue that Kelly’s remarks were intended as tongue-in-cheek, however given her history with Fox News they come off as especially tone deaf. Coincidentally, on Sunday night before her show aired, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver complied a greatest hits type reel of some of the more jaw dropping things Kelly said during her tenure with the right-leaning cable news network, including one particularly objectionable remark comparing gay rights to “Christian rights.” (We’re going to assume Kelly probably didn’t catch Oliver’s segment before her debut Monday morning.)
Suffice to say the awkwardness was real, and Twitter picked up on it as well.
Here is Megyn Kelly telling a gay #WillAndGrace superfan, "I think the 'Will & Grace' thing and the gay thing's gonna work out great." 😑😑😑 pic.twitter.com/KyN9kVQ0rK
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) September 25, 2017
If you're not watching Megyn Kelly's morning debut right now . . . It's one of the more mortifying things I've seen in a while
— Richard Lawson (@rilaws) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/912342302793900032
https://twitter.com/kpfallon/status/912336144565710852
https://twitter.com/DannyPellegrino/status/912342686245384194
Why are cast & creators of #WillAndGrace talking to Megyn Kelly, who for YEARS fought against gay rights? #MegynTODAY @SouthernHomo
— Danny Manus (@DannyManus) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/AndrewHusband/status/912304175052148738
So Megyn Kelly’s gonna interview the cast of @WillAndGrace like she didn’t spend years making anti-LGBTQ comments on Fox News? Cool…
— Kealeen (@kealeen.bsky.social) (@keltothelean) September 25, 2017
Megyn Kelly is every mom trying waaaaay to hard to "relate" to her gay son but instead just makes it waaaaay worse pic.twitter.com/dh2sSi2kVq
— MrsFishVEVO (@Will_Kellogg) September 25, 2017