'NBC loves blackface!': Megyn Kelly mocks ex employer as it struggles with pulled episodes and star apologies
Megyn Kelly has poked fun at NBC, her former employer, for canceling her show due to a discussion about blackface while four shows on the network have faced backlash for featuring the controversial makeup. The 49-year-old journalist saw her eponymous show Megyn Kelly Today canceled in 2019 after her comments regarding the appropriateness of blackface during Halloween. But on Friday, Netflix announced that it was removing an episode of NBC sitcom Community after discovering it featured blackface, the Daily Mail reported. That said, NBC itself has pulled episodes of their hit show 30 Rock for featuring the controversial get-up. Other shows on the network featuring blackface include Saturday Night Live and Scrubs, and talk show host Jimmy Fallon was forced to apologize on June 1 for donning blackface during an SNL skit.
"Turns out NBC loves blackface!" Kelly tweeted on Friday, referring to the pushback faced by the four shows. She also listed names those who had performed in the makeup, including Jane Krakowski, John Hamm, Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Jimmy Fallon, Fred Armisen, Tina Fey, Ted Danson, Ken Jeong, and Julianne Hough. Kelly lost her NBC gig after she appeared to defend reality TV star Luann de Lesseps' use of blackface to dress as Diana Ross for Halloween on her show. "When I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up as like a character," the journalist explained.
Kelly's show was canceled three days later, despite her apologizing for the remarks, and her contract with NBC was terminated on January 11, 2019. Nonetheless, the popular news anchor appeared to be enjoying the storm NBC found itself in this week. After news about 30 Rock broke on Tuesday, Megyn tweeted: "Wait - what network aired those episodes again?"
It also emerged that Fallon had painted himself black to play Chris Rock in a 2000 skit on Saturday Night Live. He apologized for the same on June 1. "I had to really examine myself in the mirror this week because a story came out about me on SNL doing an impression of Chris Rock in blackface," Fallon said on his show. "And I was horrified. Not of people trying to 'cancel' me or cancel this show, which is scary enough."
"The thing that haunted me the most was, how do I say I love this person?" he added. "I respect this guy more than I respect most humans. I'm not a racist. I don't feel this way."
Having said that, Kelly's tweet comes after 30 Rock star Tina Fey and the show's co-creator Robert Carlock, along with NBC Universal, requested to remove four episodes from the show because of the use of blackface. The episodes were subsequently removed from Amazon Prime, Hulu, iTunes, as well as Google Play, as reported by Vulture.
Fey commented on the removals in a letter she wrote to streaming platforms. "As we strive to do the work and do better in regards to race in America, we believe that these episodes featuring actors in race-changing makeup are best taken out of circulation," she wrote in the letter, obtained by Variety. "I understand now that 'intent' is not a free pass for white people to use these images. I apologize for the pain they have caused."
In conclusion, she declared that "going forward, no comedy-loving kid needs to stumble on these tropes and be stung by their ugliness. I thank NBCUniversal for honoring this request."