Megyn Kelly wonders what the big deal is about blackface pic.twitter.com/07yvYDuAYe
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) October 23, 2018
Aside from Charlize Theron’s being cast to play her in an upcoming film about Roger Ailes and Fox News, we haven’t heard much from Megyn Kelly over at NBC. That all changed on Tuesday when the daytime talk show host, while discussing the topic with an all-white panel, asked “what is racist” about white people dressing in blackface for Halloween. Needless to say, Megyn Kelly TODAY viewers with access to Twitter (and plenty of others) were quick to answer Kelly’s question for her on social media.
“But what is racist?” the host asked, seemingly with complete sincerity. “Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid that was okay, as long as you were dressing up as a character.”
Kelly also used the discussion to defend The Real Housewives of New York star Luann de Lesseps, who was criticized for dressing up as singer Diana Ross in 2017. “I can’t keep up with the number of people we’re offending just by being normal people,” the host exclaimed.
Some of her panelists, like NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff, tried to push back against Kelly’s arguments against blackface being racist, but to no avail. So Twitter’s response to the tense exchange will likely have little to no effect on the former Fox News personality as well, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less valid — jokes and all.
Why does this have to be explained to this person?
— Karen Hunter (@karenhunter) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/gohomeben/status/1054742485484867584
interesting there’s no black person present to weigh in…
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/1054755943270043648
Megyn Kelly’s main journalistic interest is uncovering why it’s not acceptable for her to be an unfeeling asshole https://t.co/NTR4hGHLgX
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/netw3rk/status/1054758527011512321
I thought this might have been an exaggeration, but no, Megyn Kelly is really doing a “I don’t see what’s so offensive about blackface” https://t.co/xtECr43UMg
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) October 23, 2018
Megyn Kelly is what happens when you leave your Tomi Lahren in the sun for too long.
— Imani Gandy (Orca’s Version) ⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) October 23, 2018
I cannot believe the ignorance on this in 2018. You are on national television. You have a responsibility to educate yourself on social issues @megynkelly. This is so damaging. https://t.co/R7UJzkDDG9 https://t.co/7qFkqGHfGJ
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) October 23, 2018
UPDATE: According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Kelly wrote that she’s heard from colleagues and friends and realizes her comments were wrong” in an “internal email” that was reviewed by the outlet.
(Via BuzzFeed News)