Megyn Kelly is an opportunist with trash opinions and a terrifyingly large platform, but I can’t blame her for not wanting to work at Fox News alongside the likes of Bill O’Reilly, if that is indeed why she left.
The New York Times reported on Friday that comments O’Reilly made on air following public allegations of sexual harassment against the network’s former chairman Roger Ailes at the very least played a role in Kelly’s decision to leave Fox for NBC (where she, unfortunately, could soon be interviewing Putin), according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Apparently the final straw came in November, when O’Reilly said of Kelly’s new book, which discusses allegations of sexual harassment at Fox News, “It’s open season on Fox News—I’ve had enough of it. It’s a good place to work, all right?…So I’m not going to buy into ‘let’s use the Fox News Channel as a piñata.’ I don’t think that’s right.”
Kelly then reportedly sent an email to Fox executives arguing that O’Reilly’s remarks could have a “chilling effect” on women at the company, and generally complaining about what he had to say. But the next night O’Reilly was at it again, bellowing on his show, “If you don’t like what’s happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave.”
Sure, but maybe this time everyone will. O’Reilly, after all, remains on that family vacation he was “planning on taking anyway,” at least since the Times published a report two weeks ago revealing that he and Fox have quietly settled sexual or verbal harassment suits with five women for a total of $13 million. Now the Murdoch family is trying to figure out what the fuck to do with this asshole, while he “enjoys himself” and “eats pasta” or whatever.