“What is racist?” Ms. Kelly asked. “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 O.K., as long as you were dressing up as a character.”
She went on to cite the example of Luann de Lesseps, a member of the cast of the Bravo reality show “The Real Housewives of New York,” who came under fire this year for dressing up as Diana Ross, complete with an outsize Afro wig. Ms. Kelly added that she found the criticism of the “Housewives” star perplexing.
Several hours after the broadcast, Ms. Kelly sent an apologetic email to NBC staff members.
“I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry,” she wrote. “The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep. I’ve never been a ‘pc’ kind of person — but I understand that we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age.”
She continued: “Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year. This is a time for more understanding, love, sensitivity and honor, and I want to be part of that.”
The email was not enough to placate her fellow “Today” hosts Al Roker and Craig Melvin, who denounced her remarks on blackface costumes in the early hours of Wednesday morning’s broadcast.
At 9 that morning Ms. Kelly went on the air with her future at the network in doubt. She looked into the camera and apologized at length. The studio audience gave her a standing ovation.
At a midday staff meeting on Wednesday, Andrew Lack, the chairman of NBC News, told employees that he condemned her comments and offered no praise for her attempts to apologize.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/business/media/megyn-kelly-today-canceled-nbc.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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