Former Fox News host and current NBC News anchor Megyn Kelly is expected to walk away from her three year, $69 million dollar contract, despite only completely half of the contract. According to the Wall Street Journal, Kelly will walk away with $30 million, the remainder of her contract.
Her departure could come as early as next week. Right now, Kelly and NBC are haggling about non-financial matters, like nondisclosure agreements and noncompete clauses.
Kelly's ratings on the "Today" morning show weren't holding up to her those of her predecessor. Her comments "blackface" comments last month were the final straw for NBC executives. Days later, her show was canceled.
From WSJ:
In jumping from a star turn at Fox News to NBC News, Ms. Kelly attempted to transition from a hard-nosed prime-time interviewer of world leaders on Fox News to a cheerful morning host at NBC’s “Today.”
But she struggled getting traction on the broadcast network. Her Sunday evening newsmagazine show flamed out quickly, and her revamp of the 9 a.m. hour of the “Today” show attracted fewer viewers than its predecessor.
When she prompted an outcry with her Halloween comments last month, her relationship with NBC fully deteriorated. She apologized, but NBC executives and talent were harshly critical, and within days her morning show was canceled.
Ratings for her former 9 a.m. hour of “Today”—now led by Al Roker, one the sharpest critics of her Halloween comments—have improved since she left, according to Nielsen.
...
Her morning program never seemed able to strike quite the right balance between hard and soft news, and Ms. Kelly struggled to adapt to interviewing celebrities. A public spat with Jane Fonda, whom Ms. Kelly asked on-air about plastic surgery, made booking other big-name talent a challenge.
When Ms. Kelly left Fox News and joined NBC, she said she was done with politics. However as her morning show failed to gain traction, she began pushing for more political assignments within NBC News. Given the disappointment of her stint at NBC News, other networks may be reluctant to make a big gamble on Ms. Kelly.
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