Megyn Kelly Finalizes Multi-Million Dollar Contract Settlement With NBC

 

Megyn Kelly and NBC News have finalized a multi-million dollar settlement deal, Mediaite has learned.

The morning show host — who was removed from the network last year after making controversial comments on air — will be paid the remainder of her reported $69 million contract, which she was about halfway through.

NBC News told Mediaite in a statement, “The parties have resolved their differences, and Megyn Kelly is no longer an employee of NBC.”

Kelly was lured away from her primetime perch at Fox News in 2017 by NBC News chief Andy Lack, to host her own hour of the Today show.

Lack’s gambit was a pricey one: Kelly’s three-year deal was worth a total of $69 million. After months of flagging ratings for her show, Megyn Kelly Today, the network eventually removed the host after she wondered on air why blackface was considered inappropriate, during a segment on Halloween costumes.

Her comments that drew outrage on social media and condemnations from Kelly’s colleagues at NBC, including Craig Melvin and Al Roker, and was covered by Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News. Kelly apologized on her show the next day, but it wasn’t enough: Lack condemned her remarks in a town hall meeting at NBC, and by the end of the week Megyn Kelly Today was cancelled.

The noisy ouster of one of NBC’s top talents soon quietened into negotiations surrounding the TV star’s massive contract. While it was reported last year that NBC was expected to pay out the rest of Kelly’s contract in full, the two parties continued to negotiate other terms, including non-compete and non-disclosure clauses.

Last week, NBC announced that Al Roker would be taking over Kelly’s slot on the 9 a.m. hour of Today. He’ll be joined by Craig Melvin, NBC News meteorologist Dylan Dreyer and NBC News correspondent Sheinelle Jones.

In an interview on the street in New York with TMZ this week, Kelly said she’ll “definitely” be back on television in 2019.

[Image via Getty]

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Aidan McLaughlin is the Editor in Chief of Mediaite. Send tips via email: aidan@mediaite.com. Ask for Signal. Follow him on Twitter: @aidnmclaughlin