Another day, another Megyn Kelly apology.
The “Megyn Kelly Today” host apologized on-air Wednesday morning for defending using blackface in Halloween costumes, prompting an immediate backlash on social media.
“I want to begin with two words: ‘I’m sorry’,” she said at the start of her show. “Yesterday we had a discussion here about political correctness and Halloween costumes, and that conversation turned to whether it is ever okay for a person of one race to dress up as another – a black person making their race lighter or a white person making theirs darker, to make a costume complete.
“I defended the idea saying as long as it was respectful, and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay,” she continued. “Well I was wrong and I am sorry.”
Kelly, 47, claimed she only learned on Tuesday’s show the “history of blackface.”
“One of the great parts of sitting in this chair each day is getting to discuss diff points of view. Sometimes I talk and sometimes I listen, and yesterday I learned,” she explained. “I learned that, given the history of blackface being used in awful ways by racists in this country, it is not okay for this to be part of any costume, Halloween or otherwise.”
The NBC News host chalked up her ignorance to never having been “a PC kind of person.”
“But I do understand the value in being sensitive to our history, particularly on race and ethnicity,” she said. “This past year has been so painful for many people of color. The country feels so divided, and I have no wish to add to that pain and offense.
“I believe this is time for more understanding, more love, more sensitivity and honor, and I want to be part of that.”
She previously apologized to staff via an internal memo.
Before Kelly’s hour of the “Today” show kicked off, longtime co-anchor Al Roker spoke out about her comments.
“She apologized to the staff, but she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country,” he said.
MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin, however, had more pointed comments for Kelly, calling her words “ignorant and racist.”
“She said something stupid, she said something indefensible,” said Melvin.
“I think a lot of people knew about blackface before yesterday,” he added.
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