Megyn Kelly spent many years working at Fox News before finally striking it rich. She was a regular on the O’Reilly Factor, offering up keen commentary on the political issues of the day. Then came the allegations against Bill O’Reilly and his subsequent dismissal, which opened the door for Kelly to become the face of Fox News.
But her time as the top host on the network was short-lived, as her coverage of the Trump campaign and spat with candidate Trump caused a rift with the higher-ups at the network. Looking for a huge payday and a bigger, less partisan audience, she jumped ship to NBC. Her time at the liberal network has been very tumultuous thus far, and this week it just got worse with an action she took against the wishes of her bosses.
As reported at PageSix, Megyn Kelly is in a war with NBC executives, as they’ve made it clear they’re “appalled” that she’s trying to book Catt Sadler as a guest for her show. The reason they’re so upset is that Kelly wants to talk with Sadler about her infamous pay dispute with “E! News,” which is owned by NBC’s parent company NBC Universal.
“They are appalled [Kelly] would use their own airtime to criticize the company,” said an insider. “It was bad enough when Debra Messing [who stars on NBC’s “Will & Grace”] weighed in on [Sadler’s grievance] on the Golden Globes red carpet on NBC. Now Megyn is going to put Catt front and center — on NBC! Yikes.”
In December, Sadler suddenly quit her post at the E! Network after more than 10 years of employment there. She said she made the decision because she found out that her co-host Jason Kennedy was making nearly twice her salary.
Her claims have since created a firestorm at E!, as they’re facing accusations of fostering an unfair “pay-gap” between male and female talent.
E! boss Frances Berwick weighed in on the controversy Tuesday at a Television Critics Association event in LA saying that “Kennedy and Catt Sadler had different roles, and therefore different salaries.” Sadler has since come out and denied that what Berwick said is true, making this a he-said-she-said dispute.
Sadler’s claims were even referenced during the Golden Globes on Sunday when Debra Messing and Eva Longoria mentioned the situation while being interviewed on the red carpet.
NBC has been harshly criticized since Ronan Farrow broke the dam on Harvey Weinstein’s lascivious and criminal behavior. Partially because Farrow first shopped the report to the network, which they declined to publish and support. So they’ve been accused of not only wanting the report to stay under wraps but for also working with and fostering people, like Matt Lauer, who have since been revealed to be sexual harassers.
So it’s no surprise NBC would be livid at Kelly for trying to book a person that will make the network look bad. However, while Kelly’s had terrible ratings and a litany of gaffes since starting her new job, inviting a critic of the network to discuss such an explosive issue is actually solid reporting, and NBC’s public attacks over it will do more damage than Sadler would have if they’d kept quiet about it.
Source: PageSix