Megyn Kelly Today: NBC Airs Rerun in Wake of Blackface Controversy

After drawing criticism for her recent comments about blackface, Megyn Kelly did not go live for her hour of Today on Thursday.

In place of a new episode of Megyn Kelly Today, NBC instead aired a rerun of her Aug. 31 broadcast.

According to a report from CNN’s Brian Stelter, Kelly’s 9 am hour will also be pre-recorded on Friday. However, because Kelly’s Friday episodes are typically pre-taped anyway, it is unclear if that broadcast will be a new episode or another rerun.

Kelly came under fire after her Oct. 23 broadcast, when she said during a roundtable discussion of Halloween costumes that it isn’t “racist” for white people to darken their skin with makeup, as long as they’re portraying an actual person or character. (“Back when I was a kid, that was OK,” she had remarked.)

She first apologized for her comments in an internal email to her colleagues, writing, “I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry. The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep.” She then issued an on-air apology during Wednesday’s Today show, reiterating that she has “never been a PC kind of person, but I do understand the value in being sensitive to our history, particularly on race and ethnicity.”

Al Roker and Craig Melvin, two of Kelly’s Today colleagues, were among her critics following the blackface comments. Melvin called Kelly’s words “ignorant and racist,” while Roker said she “owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country.”

In the days since Kelly spoke about blackface, she has parted ways with her representation at Creative Artists Agency, per The Hollywood Reporter, and there has been speculation about whether she will continue hosting the 9 am hour of Today. At a town hall with NBC News staff on Wednesday, chairman Andy Lack said he “condemns” Kelly’s remarks, adding that “there is no place on our air or in this workplace for them.”