Megyn Kelly is once again making headlines after taking aim at Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman for their past use of blackface. The criticism comes despite her own history of defending the controversial practice, which played a role in her firing from NBC in 2018.
Kelly’s remarks followed Kimmel’s appearance on Silverman’s podcast, where the two comedians discussed their concerns about the United States under Donald Trump. Kimmel, who recently obtained dual citizenship in Italy, suggested he might consider leaving the country if Trump’s second presidency becomes too extreme.
“What’s going on is as bad as you thought it was gonna be,” Kimmel said. Silverman agreed, and Kimmel added, “It’s so much worse; it’s just unbelievable.”
On her show Monday, Kelly took a sharp tone toward both comedians. “Jimmy Kimmel amazingly still has a career notwithstanding the fact that not only did he wear blackface, he put on a fat suit and went as Oprah Winfrey wearing blackface and talked about darning socks. Like, how many stereotypes can you hit, right?” Kelly said before playing a clip of Kimmel’s impersonation.
She then turned her attention to Silverman. Displaying a screengrab of the comedian in blackface, Kelly said, “This is so offensive, what she’s wearing. Anyone could see how deeply wrong this is.”
Kelly argued she had been unfairly “canceled” without ever wearing blackface. “This is their same crew, by the way, that pushed for my cancellation at NBC just for talking about blackface,” she said. “I’ve never worn blackface. Never. Not a single stitch of that kind of makeup in my life. These two donned the absolute worst forms of it while openly mocking Black people. They’re fine. They have their careers intact.”
In 2018, Kelly faced heavy criticism after saying she “didn’t know” what was so “racist” about wearing blackface as part of a Halloween costume. At the time, she told viewers, “Back when I was a kid, that was OK just as long as you were dressing as a character.”
On Monday, she tried to frame her past comments in a different light. “Some of us had a discussion about blackface Halloween costumes, i.e., wearing tinted skin to try to look like Diana Ross or Michael Jackson,” Kelly said. “I think you could make a very strong case that it’s not the same thing as minstrel show blackface. Sarah Silverman thought it would be super fun to do the absolute worst, most offensive kind, and thought that would be terrific.”
Both Kimmel and Silverman have apologized for their past actions. In 2020, Kimmel called his portrayals of Oprah and basketball player Karl Malone “embarrassing,” adding, “I believe that I have evolved and matured over the last 20-plus years, and I hope that is evident to anyone who watches my show.”
Silverman expressed similar regret, telling Rolling Stone she once believed using racial slurs or blackface was acceptable in a satirical context. “Looking back, my intentions were always good, but they were f—ing ignorant,” she said.
Kelly ended her segment by questioning Kimmel’s talk of leaving the U.S. “He should definitely leave, but he won’t,” she said. “He’s not going to abandon his very lucrative but loser of a show on ABC’s late night.”