Report: Megyn Kelly to Get All Of Her $69M Contract To Go Away

Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly is expected to walk away from Comcast Corp.’s NBC News with more than $30 million—the full value left on the three-year, $69 million contract with the network, according to The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

The TV anchor’s exit deal with NBC News could come as early as next week, one of the people said, more than a month after she came under fire for questioning on-air why using “blackface” for a Halloween costume was necessarily racist or insensitive. Her show, “Megyn Kelly Today,” was canceled days later.

The issues that the two sides are haggling over are largely “nonfinancial,” the person said, including noncompete and nondisclosure clauses. Ms. Kelly’s contract with NBC went into effect in the middle of last year, meaning she has a little more than half of her contract left.

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.