All Of Megyn Kelly’s Worst Moments of 2018

Kelly only made it 22 days before bringing her feud with Jane Fonda into the new year. Back in September 2017, Kelly decided to bring up Fonda’s plastic surgery, and Fonda shot back, “We really wanna talk about that right now?” The actress was asked about the incident repeatedly over the next few months, saying that “it was the wrong time and place to raise that question,” and by January 2018, Kelly had had enough.

Kelly closed her January 22 show with “a word on Jane Fonda,” which, unsurprisingly, turned into more than a word. “This is a woman whose name is synonymous with outrage,” Kelly said of Fonda. “Many of our veterans still call her ‘Hanoi Jane,’ thanks to her radio broadcast which attempted to shame American troops.” The Today host went on about Fonda’s past, and she concluded with a dig at the actress’ “moral indignation” about the plastic surgery question. “Honestly, she has no business lecturing anyone on what qualifies as offensive,” said Kelly.

The next day, a suddenly gun-shy Kelly stayed quiet: instead of airing a new episode, NBC aired a pre-taped segment on sex trafficking. When she returned on January 24, she completely avoided the topic. Feud over, we guess?

In April, the Wall Street Journal published a scathing examination of Megyn Kelly Today‘s ratings in a piece titled “NBC’s Failing Bet on Megyn Kelly.” Reporter Joe Flint revealed that the 9 a.m. hour of Today (Kelly’s hour) was down 28 percent from last year in the key 25 to 54 demo — by all accounts, a ratings disaster. But Megyn Kelly Today wasn’t just sinking itself; it was taking NBC’s entire morning block down with it. At the time of reporting, Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford’s 10 a.m. Today hour had decreased 6 percent among overall viewers and a whopping 19 percent in the key demo. How dare you do such a thing to Kathie Lee and Hoda!

Remember when Samantha Bee called Ivanka Trump a “feckless c**t” and everyone freaked out? Yes, that was this year. Bee later apologized, but obviously, Kelly had something to say about her apology. God forbid any sort of pop culture moment goes by without receiving Kelly’s biting commentary.

Kelly was particularly worked up that Bee said she was “a comedian” and meant for the “reclaim” the c-word for women. “To me, the interesting thing was to fall back on ‘I’m a comedian.’ So is Roseanne,” said Kelly. Interesting time to bring up Roseanne (this was just one week after her show was canceled by ABC) but it’s definitely not the weirdest thing she’s ever done, so sure. “Being a comedian doesn’t excuse everyone’s comments, and it was more than uncivil in my view. That term is more than just vulgar, it’s deeply offensive to a lot of women.” But that being said, Kelly did “tip [her] hat” to Bee, who said “on the air that she is sorry, which isn’t always easy to do.”

If only we knew back in June what we know now.

Kelly was very upset that Seth Rogen declined a photo op with Republican congressman Paul Ryan. Rogen first told the story on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, saying that he met two teenage fans who introduced him to their father, who turned out to be Ryan. The Speaker of the House asked Rogen to take a photo, and the comedian declined. “I said, ‘I hate what you’re doing to the country at the moment, and I count the days until you don’t have one iota of the power that you currently have,'” Rogen told Colbert of the encounter.

Later, when Kelly re-told the story, she got a few key details wrong, insisting that Rogen “shamed” the teenagers in front of their dad. “He lectured the boys on how bad their dad was in front of their dad,” she said. “To me, that is so wrong!”

If there’s any one phrase that defines Kelly’s year, it’s “When I was a kid, that was okay.” During a conversation about politically correct Halloween costumes, Kelly defended blackface, saying that “a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween or a black person who puts on white face for Halloween” was “okay” when she was growing up. Kelly went on to defend Real Housewives of New York City star Luann de Lesseps, who “made her skin look darker than it really is” to dress like Diana Ross and was called “racist.” Kelly’s panelists looked on in horror, and within hours, it was clear the Megyn Kelly Today host was in hot water.

October 23 may have been bad for Kelly, but October 24 was even worse. The morning after Kelly defended blackface, her Today colleague Al Roker slammed her for the comments, saying that her apology — she sent an email apologizing to her coworkers the afternoon before — wasn’t enough. “The fact is, while she apologized to the staff, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country,” said Roker. “She’s a friend. She said something stupid. She said something indefensible,” added Melvin.

Just a few hours later, Kelly tearfully apologized on Megyn Kelly Today. “I want to begin with two words. I’m sorry,” she said. “Yesterday, I learned. I learned that given the history of blackface being used in awful ways by racists in this country, it is not okay for that to be used for any costume, Halloween or otherwise.”

It seemed like that would be the end of it, and it was, in a way: this was Kelly’s final episode of Megyn Kelly Today.

Two days after her blackface comments — and one day before Megyn Kelly Today was officially canceled — rumors began swirling that Kelly was officially out at NBC. Kelly and NBC are still discussing the details of her exit package, and there’s a lot to talk about: Kelly will likely be paid out about $30 million, the remainder of her $69 million, multi-year contact.

After airing a pre-taped episode on October 25, NBC announced on October 26 that Megyn Kelly Today would not be returning at all. In the almost two months since NBC canceled Kelly’s show, Today‘s 9 a.m. hour has been hosted by a rotating group of anchors.

Kelly just can’t seem to make it out of October. The week after her blowup with NBC, reports surfaced that Kelly was hoping to return to her roots at Fox News, where she served as an anchor for 13 years before moving to NBC. Unfortunately for Kelly, sources close to Fox News said that Lachlan Murdoch is “extremely pleased with the current line-up,” which pretty much amounts to “Hell no, we’re not bringing her back.” While Kelly has been plotting her return to TV, it’s unlikely that many will want her on board, especially now that Fox News — the place best suited to Kelly’s personality — has passed.

Megyn Kelly giveth, and Megyn Kelly taketh away. In November, Nielsen reported that viewership for Today‘s 9 a.m. hour had increased by around 10 percent since Kelly’s departure. The ratings agency also noted that NBC’s Today was more popular than its main rival, ABC’s Good Morning America, for each of the three weeks following the Megyn Kelly Today cancellation. Generally, GMA snags more overall viewers, while Today captures more viewers in the 25 to 54 demo, but thanks to Megyn Kelly, Today topped BOTH of those metrics in November.

This Thanksgiving, this very site named Megyn Kelly one of 2018’s biggest turkeys. These 13 celebrities, movies, and shows drove themselves into disaster time and time again, much to the displeasure (or pleasure, depending on how you see it) of the internet. Talk about an honor!