Early career In 2003, Kelly moved to
Washington, D.C., where she was hired by the
ABC affiliate
WJLA-TV as a general assignment reporter.
CNN president
Jonathan Klein later said he regretted not hiring Kelly as a reporter at the beginning of her career, because she was "the one talent you'd want to have from somewhere else". On February 1, 2010, Kelly began hosting her own two-hour afternoon show,
America Live, which replaced
The Live Desk. She was a guest panelist on Fox News' late-night satire program
Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld. In 2010, viewership for
America Live increased by 20%, averaging 1,293,000 viewers, and increased by 4% in the 25–54 age demographic, averaging 268,000 viewers. In December 2010, Kelly hosted a New Year's Eve special with
Bill Hemmer. coverage Kelly received media attention for her coverage of the results of the
2012 United States presidential election. On election night, Fox News'
decision desk projected that Obama would win the state of
Ohio along with a second term after part of the results had been released. Republican operative
Karl Rove objected to this projection, whereupon Kelly - with camera following - dramatically walked backstage to the decision desk and spoke with them; she also asked Rove, "Is this just math that you do as a
Republican to make yourself feel better? Or is this real?" Kelly left
America Live in July 2013 and took
maternity leave. That October she began hosting a new nightly program,
The Kelly File.
The Kelly File was occasionally the channel's ratings leader, topping ''
The O'Reilly Factor''. In December 2013, Kelly commented on a
Slate article on
The Kelly File: "For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white, but this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa", adding, "But Santa is what he is, and just so you know, we're just debating this because someone wrote about it." Kelly also said that
Jesus was a white man later in the segment. Soon after,
Jon Stewart,
Stephen Colbert,
Rachel Maddow,
Josh Barro, and others satirized her remarks. Two days later, she said on the air that her original comments were "
tongue-in-cheek", and that the skin color of Jesus is "far from settled". In June 2015, Kelly interviewed
Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar of
19 Kids and Counting regarding their son
Josh Duggar's alleged molestation of five girls in 2002. She later interviewed two of their daughters, Jill and Jessa. This show's Nielsen national estimates ratings of 3.09 million viewers, above its average 2.11 million, ranked with the 3.2 million for the
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shootdown coverage and 7.3 million for the
Ferguson riots coverage. In the
Republican Party presidential debate on August 6, 2015, Kelly asked then-presidential candidate
Donald Trump whether a man of his temperament ought to be elected president, noting that he has called various women insulting names in the past. Kelly's moderating generated a range of media and political reactions and her professionalism was crudely criticized by Trump. Kelly responded to Trump's criticism by saying she would not "apologize for doing good journalism". Trump declined to attend the
Iowa January 28 debate that she moderated. After the debate and off-camera,
Ted Cruz said that Kelly had referred to Trump off-camera as "
Voldemort", though Fox News denied it.
Bill Maher complimented Kelly as being "so much better" than the candidates who attended the January 28 debate and argued that she was a more viable candidate for the Republican nomination. According to reporting by
The Atlantic, she had been "ordered" by Rupert Murdoch, then in control of Fox News, "to hit Trump hard". In an interview with
CBS News Sunday Morning, Kelly reflected that she was disappointed with the lack of support she received from coworker
Bill O'Reilly and
CNN, the latter airing a Trump event the same time as the debate. In April, at her request, Kelly met with Trump at
Trump Tower, having "a chance to clear the air". The following month, after interviewing Trump and being met with mixed reception, she expressed interest in doing another one with him. In June, she criticized Trump for his claims against judge
Gonzalo P. Curiel's impartiality. In October, a contentious discussion between Kelly and
Newt Gingrich on
The Kelly File regarding Trump's sexual comments in a
2005 audio recording gained widespread social media reaction. In March 2016, it was announced that Kelly would host a one-hour prime time special on the
Fox network wherein she would interview celebrities from the worlds of "politics, entertainment, and other areas of human interest". The special aired in May 2016, which was a
sweeps month. It acquired 4.8 million viewers, but placed third in the ratings.
Gabriel Sherman wrote of the stakes for Kelly as "high", elaborating that with Kelly being in the final year of her contract with Fox and having confirmed her ambitions, "[t]he special was essentially a public interview for her next job." In July 2016, amid allegations of sexual harassment on the part of Fox News CEO
Roger Ailes, Kelly was reported to have confirmed that she herself was also subjected to his harassment. Two days after the report, Ailes resigned from Fox News and his lawyer,
Susan Estrich, publicly denied the charge. During Kelly's coverage of the
2016 Republican National Convention, her attire received criticism. In a defense of Kelly, Jenavieve Hatch of
The Huffington Post commented, "If you're a woman on national television reporting on a political event from hot, humid Cleveland, wearing a weather-appropriate outfit makes you the target of an endless stream of sexist commentary." In September 2016, it was reported that Kelly would be collaborating with
Michael De Luca to produce
Embeds, a scripted comedy about reporters covering politics, to be aired on a streaming service. Kelly appeared on the cover of the February 2016 issue of
Vanity Fair. In 2016, she was an honoree for
Varietys
Power of Women for her addressing
child abuse.
2017–2018: NBC News , June 2017 , and Austrian Chancellor
Christian Kern In late 2016, with her Fox contract in its final months, Kelly was rumored to be actively considering moving to other news networks. In January 2017,
The New York Times reported that she would leave Fox News for a "triple role" at
NBC News, which would include roles hosting a daytime talk show and a forthcoming Sunday-night newsmagazine, as well as becoming a correspondent for major news events and political coverage. She departed Fox News on January 6, 2017, after the last episode of
The Kelly File was aired. In January 2017
People, quoting an unspecified source, reported that Kelly remained under a
non-compete clause with Fox until July 2017, which would prevent her from working for a competitor until the clause expired, unless it would be canceled prior. On June 2, 2017, Kelly interviewed Russian president
Vladimir Putin, first in a panel discussion she moderated at the
St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and later in a one-on-one interview for the premiere episode of NBC's
Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly, which aired June 4, 2017. Kelly's daytime talk show,
Megyn Kelly Today, premiered in September 2017. Kelly was paid reportedly between $15 million and $20 million a year at NBC. After an initial run of eight episodes in the summer of 2017, NBC announced
Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly would return in spring 2018 after a hiatus for football and the Winter Olympics, but only periodically. However, this return never materialized. Instead, Kelly continued to report stories for
Dateline NBC during the summer of 2018, continuing her work for the show which she joined in 2017. On October 23, 2018, Kelly was criticized for on-air remarks she made on
Megyn Kelly Today related to the appropriateness of
blackface as part of
Halloween costumes. She recollected that "when I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up like a character", and defended
Luann de Lesseps's use of skin darkening spray to wear a
Diana Ross Halloween costume. After receiving backlash for her comments, Kelly issued an internal email apologizing for the remarks later that day. Three days later, NBC canceled
Megyn Kelly Today. It had been reported that Kelly was considering ending the program to focus on her role as a correspondent. Her employment was terminated on January 11, 2019, and she was paid the $30 million due for the remainder of her contract.
2020–present: Independent Media (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland Kelly announced the launch of Devil May Care Media, her media production company, on September 10, 2020, with a podcast,
The Megyn Kelly Show. Its first episode premiered on September 28, 2020. On July 6, 2021, it was announced that the podcast would move to
SiriusXM on September 7, 2021, to broadcast weekdays at 12 noon ET on the talk radio channel Triumph, along with a video simulcast available to SiriusXM subscribers. Since transitioning to independent media,
The Megyn Kelly Show has experienced significant growth. In July 2023, the show's YouTube channel attracted 116.8 million views, surpassing the viewership of major news outlets during the same period, including NBC News (78 million) and CBS News (83 million). As of November 2025, Kelly's YouTube channel alone has over 4 million subscribers, and it has become one of the top ten podcasts in the U.S. Despite running with a small team, her show has gained significant traction, positioning her as a prominent figure in the digital media space. On December 6, 2023, Kelly returned to the moderator desk to co-host the fourth Republican primary debate on
NewsNation, alongside
Elizabeth Vargas and
Eliana Johnson. This marked her first return to moderating a presidential debate since her time at Fox News, where she famously moderated the
first Republican Party presidential debate in 2015. The debate, which was hosted by independent media figures, was part of the
Republican National Committee's move toward embracing alternative media platforms over traditional establishment networks. The event took place without the participation of
Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate at the time. On November 4, 2024, the day before the
2024 presidential election, Kelly publicly endorsed
Donald Trump at a rally in
Pittsburgh. In her speech, she expressed support for his policies on women's rights,
border security, immigration, and
transgender athletes in women's sports, stating that he would be a "protector" of women. Afterward, Kelly posted a selfie with Trump on
X, captioned, "God bless him. Go vote for him!" While Kelly had previously clashed with Trump during the
2016 campaign, when he referred to her as "nasty" following a widely publicized
debate exchange, her endorsement in 2024 revealed a stark change in their relationship. Kelly attended the
Trump's second inauguration in January 2025, and delivered remarks on stage at his rally the night before. On February 18, 2025, Kelly announced the launch of a second podcast,
AM Update with Megyn Kelly, which premiered on February 19. Unlike
The Megyn Kelly Show, which features guest discussions and debates,
AM Update follows a daily digest format, summarizing major headlines. On March 10, 2025, Kelly won the
IHeartRadio podcast award for Best Political Podcast. In March 2025, Kelly launched MK Media, a podcast and video network focused on news and entertainment. Its initial lineup included
Next Up with Mark Halperin,
The Nerve with Maureen Callahan, and
Spot On with Link Lauren, with new episodes airing multiple times per week. The network expanded on Kelly’s existing media presence, including
The Megyn Kelly Show and
AM Update, with longtime producer Steve Krakauer overseeing production. Additional shows were reported to be in development. With the first additional show
After Party with Emily Jashinsky launching in June 2025. On May 6, 2025, Kelly's podcast ranked 3rd in top
right-wing podcasts by subscribers for Q1. Her podcast had the most YOY % growth at 176%. She is also the only female in the top 10.
Split with Trump in 2026 On March 2, 2026, Kelly would split with the
Trump Administration over the
2026 Iran war, notably questioning why U.S. military members died in a conflict which mainly involved Iran and Israel. Two week later Kelly would also defend former National Counterterrorism Center head
Joe Kent amid the Trump Administration's efforts to pursue an investigation against him. On the March 20, 2026 episode of
The Megyn Kelly Show, Kent himself would be a guest, informing Kelly that he no regrets for his decision to break with the Trump Administration over the Iran War and feared retaliation. In addition, Kent also alleged to Kelly that the Trump Administration had not done enough to investigate the
assassination of Charlie Kirk. == Political views ==