Former Fox News anchor, Megyn Kelly has ditched politics in favor of her new morning talk show on NBC, Megyn Kelly Today. She recently dropped by Late Night with Seth Myers where she talked with the comedian about a few topics and revealed that she doesn't miss talking about politics or even talking to politicians.
More time to tuck the kids into bed
The two started their conversation off by talking about Kelly's transition from having an evening show to having a morning show. The new morning show host admitted that she now has a "totally different experience" when it comes to dealing with her kids.
She told Myers that "The nighttime routine is much more rewarding than the morning routine." These include tucking the kids into bed and reading them bedtime stories. Myers then pointed out that these are the things he misses with his kids because of hosting Late Night.
Kelly also talked about the differences in being a news anchor and hosting Megyn Kelly Today. In the past, she just had to "sit at the desk and look at the camera, and deliver the news." Now, she admits that with her new show, she has to move around more. Myers then got back at her saying that he has a desk and she doesn't.
Kelly wants to talk about politics less, but she misses Mitch McConnell
Kelly spent a career talking about politics with Fox News.
However, with her new job as a host, she wanted less of that, as she explains to Myers. During the show, Myers asked her if she misses talking to politicians. To this, she answered that she does miss talking to Senator Mitch McConnell. However, she said that she is drawing a line when it comes to her new show. She said that if a big hurricane comes, they're going to cover it, but they won't act as if they're the weather channel.
"If something big happens politically, we're gonna talk about it, but I don't wanna do it all the time as I did on cable," she explains. She noted that the experience is "Soul Killing."
Myers then talked about his own experience when talking to politicians, who, according to him, "would answer the question they'd wish you'd ask." He said that whenever he asks politicians from both sides of the aisle questions they don't like, they would ramble on and not answer his question.
Kelly agreed with him and added that they would often take "12 minutes" to answer the question. Kelly then added that she, as an "advocate for the audience," isn't shy about interrupting them when it comes to that. However, she does admit that the experience isn't fulfilling, to say the least.
On Bill O'Reilly's sexual harassment cases
The two then talked about Kelly's speech about Bill O'Reilly's sexual abuses while on Fox News. Her speech came right after O'Reilly released a scathing rant video about his sexual harassment allegations. She told Myers that she made the speech thanks to a combination of him saying those things in the video, as well as the news that he paid 32 million dollars to settle a sexual harassment claim.
The morning show host then told Myers that while there are small cases where defendants pay small amounts to make them all go away, 32 million dollars is a different story. She then hit her former company, Fox News, on their claim of not knowing O'Reilly paid that much to settle a claim when they re-signed him as host of the O'Reilly Factor.
Kelly claims that because of those things, it was "time to tell that story." She then tells Myers that her time at Fox News wasn't all bad, and they have great people; however, Bill O'Reilly isn't one of them. Seth Myers then asked Kelly about when O'Reilly was presenting her and Gretchen Carlson's thank you notes to him. He asked if actions like that speak about just how hard it is for women to report sexual harassment in the workplace.
Kelly answered "I think it's right out of the playbook of a lot of these guys. I mean, ask yourselves, who keeps thank you notes from nine years earlier, and puts them in a file just in case they need them?" Myers then joked that it might be because O'Reilly has "only gotten the two."
"You can have a decent working relationship with somebody, as I did with him (O'Reilly) for years, and then you get new information about a said person that changes your view," Kelly said. Myers then asked his guest how important it is to report this kind of thing, and what she would like to suggest for a workplace to be safe for women. She answered that with a question, "was there a safe avenue for reporting?" She then said that during her time in Fox News, the answer to that question was no.
She then said that CEO Roger Ailes, who himself has been accused of sexual harassment, controlled HR, who are the ones who people usually have to run to report such conduct. However, she also said that even if HR is a viable option, she pointed out the women are afraid. As a remedy, Kelly suggested that women can form an underground army where they can talk about such things and know that they're not alone, as well as men in positions of power to stick up for women more.
