Megyn Kelly, known for asking tough questions, had one for her former employer Monday.
Discussing the news that her Fox News colleague Bill O’Reilly paid $32 million to settle sex harassment claims, Kelly said on NBC:
“That is a jaw-dropping figure. O.J. Simpson was ordered to pay the Goldman and Brown families $33.5 million for the murders of Ron [Goldman] and Nicole [Brown Simpson]. What on earth would justify that amount? What awfulness went on?”
Kelly also shared part of an email she sent Fox News in November about O’Reilly: “Perhaps he didn’t realize the kind of message his criticism sends to young women across the country about how men continue to view the issue of speaking out about sexual harassment.
“Perhaps it’s his own history of harassment of women which has, as you both knew, resulted in payouts to more than one woman, including recently, that blinded him to the folly of saying anything other than ‘I am sorry for the women of this company who never should have gone through that.’”
The New York Times, which broke the $32 million payout story Saturday, added:
“On Thursday, in an attempt to increase the show’s fun factor, Ms. Kelly danced to a Pitbull song with Hoda Kotb, the co-host of the 10 a.m. hour of ‘Today.’ The two women asked audience members to join them in an ‘Ellen’-style shindig, with limited success. A clip of the brief dance party went viral on social media.
“But amid the cascade of sexual harassment allegations against the film mogul Harvey Weinstein, Ms. Kelly has also returned to her old specialty as a news analyst and stirrer of the cultural pot. She has talked increasingly about sexual harassment, including condemning the fashion designer Donna Karan for defending Mr. Weinstein.”
“O’Reilly’s suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false. I know because I complained.” @megynkelly on Bill O’Reilly pic.twitter.com/BO8ifQcJbu
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 23, 2017