Megyn Kelly will be staying home next month when her fellow NBC stars travel to South Korea for the Olympics — raising new questions about the standing of NBC News’ highest paid star.
The Olympics is a command performance for any high-profile star or executive at the Peacock Network, which has paid nearly $1 billion to broadcast the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in the United States. While it’s unclear if Kelly made the decision to stay home herself, it’s unusual nonetheless.
NBC traditionally sends its entire panoply of news stars to the games, and true to form, both the “Today” show and “Nightly News” will broadcast live from Pyeongchang for the duration of the games, focusing their news programs almost entirely on games coverage. NBC executives, as well as head honchos from parent company Comcast, also travel to the games to hobnob, attend receptions and watch sporting events.
Fox News has confirmed, however, that Kelly, who makes about $23 million a year, will not join her fellow stars in South Korea. Instead, her troubled 9 a.m. hour of “Today” will broadcast Olympics coverage from its usual studio in New York’s Rockefeller Center, according to TVNewser.
“This is incredibly embarrassing for Megyn,” said one NBC News insider. “Anybody who’s anybody at NBC goes to the Olympics.”
The Olympics bring a significant increase in viewers to NBC News and provide the network with a huge opportunity to promote its high-priority programming and stars — an opportunity Kelly could really use. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Staffers at The Today Show have expressed their disgust and outrage at Megyn Kelly for her smug, self-aggrandizing display and insensitivity to her distraught colleagues in the wake of Matt Lauer’s firing.
Insiders at the show told DailyMail.com that if she had a public comment to make she should have focused on the accuser and the Today team who are devastated by by the allegation surrounding Lauer and his firing, which came late Tuesday night.
Instead, Kelly used her platform on her show Wednesday to say: ‘This one does hit close to home. I too have known Matt for a long time and he has been a friend and kind and supportive to me in my transition to NBC News.’
And later that day, at a media event in Manhattan, she hailed his firing as ‘a sign of progress.’
All day members of the Today show were crying and distraught, staffers told DailyMail.com.
‘But rather than sticking around and spending time with the staff, Megyn made sure she was the center of attention.
‘No one wanted Megyn here, she was forced upon us and today reinforced why she will never be a member of the Today family.’
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