Megyn Kelly finally apologized for comments she made on her talk show yesterday, October 23, about white people wearing blackface for Halloween. Her on-air speech comes after she emailed an apology to NBC staff and was blasted on-air by some of her colleagues, including Al Roker and Craig Melvin. Click through the gallery for all the details on the morning news drama and to find out why some people think she hasn’t done enough.
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Megyn, 47,
opened her show with the apology. "You may have heard that yesterday we had a conversation about political correctness and Halloween costumes... I defended the idea (of blackface), saying that as long it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, that it seemed OK. Well, I was wrong, and I am sorry."
Photo credit: Today Show
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Yesterday, the news host sent an email to NBC staff where she also expressed remorse.
Us Weekly got their hands on a copy. In it, 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.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Al, 64,
spared no words when talking about his colleague’s comments. “The fact is, while she apologized to the staff, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country. This is a history going back to the 1830s minstrel shows, to demean and denigrate a race wasn't right.”
Photo credit: MEGA
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The NBC legend also mentioned growing up when Amos & Andy was on television, which featured white comedians in blackface.
Photo credit: MEGA
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Craig, 39, said, “There was some criticism online that this was political correctness gone amok. That’s silly and it’s disingenuous. It’s just as ignorant and racist as the comment itself.” He also pointed out how insincere it is to say people are just learning blackface is bad now. “I think a lot of people knew about blackface,” he said.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
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Do you think Megyn’s apology was enough? Sound off in the comments!
Photo credit: MEGA
Megyn, 47,
opened her show with the apology. "You may have heard that yesterday we had a conversation about political correctness and Halloween costumes... I defended the idea (of blackface), saying that as long it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, that it seemed OK. Well, I was wrong, and I am sorry."
Yesterday, the news host sent an email to NBC staff where she also expressed remorse.
Us Weekly got their hands on a copy. In it, 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.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
Al, 64,
spared no words when talking about his colleague’s comments. “The fact is, while she apologized to the staff, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country. This is a history going back to the 1830s minstrel shows, to demean and denigrate a race wasn't right.”
The NBC legend also mentioned growing up when Amos & Andy was on television, which featured white comedians in blackface.
Craig, 39, said, “There was some criticism online that this was political correctness gone amok. That’s silly and it’s disingenuous. It’s just as ignorant and racist as the comment itself.” He also pointed out how insincere it is to say people are just learning blackface is bad now. “I think a lot of people knew about blackface,” he said.
Photo credit: INSTARImages
Other celebrities weighed in on the drama, including
Padma Lakshmi. "I cannot believe the ignorance on this in 2018,” she said in part.
Do you think Megyn’s apology was enough? Sound off in the comments!
