Photo: Megyn Kelly, Getty Images.
On Tuesday morning, Megyn Kelly hosted a round-table discussion on her show 'Megyn Kelly Today,' where she asked her guests why "the costume police are cracking down," on Halloween costumes. Her few minutes of round-table talk with guests Jacob Soboroff, Melissa Rivers, and Jenna Bush Hager quickly drew backlash on social media.
“You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween,” Ms. Kelly said on her show Tuesday morning. “Back when I was a kid, that was O.K., as long as you were dressing up as a character.”
Jacob Soboroff immediately informed Kelly that the costume may be seen as "a little racist," and to that Kelly replied: “I can’t keep up with the number of people that we’re offending just by being normal people.”
Immediately following the morning show, Kelly released an apology via email to her NBC colleagues for the "inappropriate" comments she made on the show.
“I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry,” she wrote. “The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep. I’ve never been a ‘pc’ kind of person — but I understand that we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age.”
“Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year. This is a time for more understanding, love, sensitivity and honor, and I want to be part of that.”
Read the full story on the New York Times.