After a rough first week on “Megyn Kelly Today,” during which Megyn Kelly endured awkward interviews with Jane Fonda and the cast of “Will and Grace,” NBC executives are reportedly concerned with the anchor’s likability.
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Even before the show premiered, Kelly was apparently struggling to keep her likability intact, with a recent poll finding her less popular than Matt Lauer was following Ann Curry’s public firing. Market research firm E-Poll reportedly found that Kelly has a “dislike” rating of 45, whereas Lauer’s was just a 22 following the incident.
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Additionally, Kelly’s rating numbers have been down compared to when Al Roker and Tamron Hall hosted the same time slot.
“There are big drops versus last week and last year,” a source told Page Six. “Early indications are [that] the rest of the week is headed in the wrong direction.”
Just in the first week of Kelly’s new show alone, Jane Fonda snapped at the host for asking about her plastic surgery during an interview. Plus, Debra Messing admitted that she was “dismayed” by the “Will and Grace” cast’s interview on “Megyn Kelly Today” and claimed she regrets going on the show.
On Friday, Kelly called the week “exciting” and “educational” but did acknowledge the negative Media reaction with a pointed sarcastic remark at the end of her show.
Megyn Kelly closes 1st week of NBC talk show by taking shot at "media response," praising "viewer response" (her ratings have also been bad) pic.twitter.com/gHpshtwbuu
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) September 29, 2017
RELATED: Jane Fonda pushes back on the “weird thing” Megyn Kelly discussed in that painful interview
After a long week, @MegynKelly jokes about the "media response" to her show https://t.co/EezB8iVdiK pic.twitter.com/MNQH5A3Gq6
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 29, 2017