It’s been nearly a year since Matt Lauer was fired from his longtime position as host of the “Today” show on NBC after he was hit with numerous sexual assault allegations. This week, “Today” host Megyn Kelly was asked if she anticipated Lauer ever making a comeback to the network, and her response has surprised many.
AOL reported that though Kelly initially said that she would not comment on whether Lauer will be coming back, she cryptically added, “I know too much that others don’t know.” Kelly was then asked if she has received any backlash from NBC for having Lauer accuser Addie Zinone on her show in the middle of the scandal.
“All I’m going to say is that I feel very strongly about the #MeToo coverage, the importance of doing it without fear or favor,” Kelly fired back. “I didn’t let anyone stop me at Fox, and I’m not going to let anyone stop me at NBC.”
This comes days after it was reported that a source at NBC had said that the network would love to fire Kelly due to the fact that the ratings of her 9am hour of the “Today” show have been abysmal. The source added that Kelly has been strategically reporting on Lauer and other Me Too scandals just to make it impossible for executives to let her go without a scandal ensuing. Here’s what the high-ranking source had to say, according to Daily Mail:
“By aggressively reporting on every male accused of sexual misconduct at the network, it would make her much harder to fire. If NBC did fire her, she’ll argue she was terminated for speaking up, when in fact she is an opportunist who latched on to an important movement when nothing else was working for her.”
Kelly’s latest comments about Lauer certainly lend credence to what this source said about her. Kelly and Lauer only worked together at NBC for just over two months, so it seems unlikely that she of all people would have more information about the sexual assault claims when even his longtime costars Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb said that they knew nothing about them.
Kelly is undoubtedly desperate to stay at NBC because she likely will have nowhere to go should they fire her. She certainly can’t go back to Fox, as she has alienated viewers there by abandoning many of her conservative views to pander to liberal viewers. Meanwhile, her terrible ratings on NBC show that liberals do not want to watch her either because of her history at Fox, so it’s unlikely that any other network will hire her should she get fired.
Shame on Megyn Kelly if she really is using the legitimate sexual assault allegations against Lauer to effectively blackmail NBC for her own personal gain.