According to New York magazine, The Fox News star was there to make peace and a pitch: She wanted Trump to end his personal attacks on her and agree to appear on a Barbara Walters–style special that Kelly is hosting next month. She arranged the private sit-down herself. She told Trump that not even her boss Roger Ailes knew she was there, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
If Kelly did indeed go rogue on the Trump meeting, it says a lot about her relationship with her employer — and about her employer’s relationship with the GOP front-runner.
Kelly has become Ailes’s biggest star, and biggest management headache.
Since she became the breakout star of this election cycle, Kelly has beaten Bill O’Reilly in the ratings, graced the cover of Vanity Fair, and been interviewed by Katie Couric at Tina Brown’s Women in the World Summit. In early April, Hillary Clinton called her a “superb journalist.”
According Vanity Fair, this publicity tour makes it clear that she is about to attempt a feat that no other Fox personality has yet accomplished: successfully crossing over into the mainstream. Kelly is in the final year of her Fox contract and will be weighing offers from Fox and rival networks. But it will be no small task to go up against Ailes, who has treated Fox anchors who play hardball like traitors. When Paula Zahn left Fox for CNN in 2001, he famously told the Times he could get better ratings with a “dead raccoon.” Zahn’s career never recovered.
It is conceivable that every major network with a news division will make a play for her. CNN chief Jeff Zucker tried in the past to hire her. So did NBC News. ABC’s Ben Sherwood is said to be a superfan. In fact, media executives say Sherwood is likely to make the most aggressive pitch. Kelly could shore up struggling Good Morning America, and ABC could offer her regular prime-time specials.
As much as Kelly seems to signal her willingness to leave Fox, executives say Ailes will likely make an offer that will be difficult to refuse. Sources speculate that Fox could pay her $20 million a year (or more) to stay, which would set a cable-news record (O’Reilly, the reigning king, reportedly makes north of $15 million).
No comments:
Post a Comment