Megyn Kelly's surprising post-Election Day plan
The idea of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly pulling an all-nighter on election day is not all that surprising.
But her morning-after plans are a bit unusual: She'll be guest-hosting Disney/ABC's syndicated talk show Live with Kelly.
It's unlikely that the lawyer-turned-journalist would permanently join the comparatively fluffy talk show (which happens to be short one host after Michael Strahan's May departure).
But it is a clear sign that Kelly, whose Fox contract expires in July 2017, is putting herself out there as a free agent.
In a rare interview with the Wall Street Journal, Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch took the unusual step of confirming that he and his lieutenants, sons James and Lachlan, are in active negotiations with Kelly to sign a new contract, possibly before she embarks on a book tour next month.
According to the story, she is reportedly seeking upwards of $20 million per year to stay put, which would give her salary parity with Bill O'Reilly.
Vanity Fair reported in mid-October that she was adding a new chapter to her book Settle for More, due Nov. 15, in which she will discuss her role in the investigation of sexual harassment by Fox News chief Roger Ailes, which ultimately led to his ouster in July.
Kelly, who earned fans from across the political aisle last summer by grilling Donald Trump about the way he discusses women, was praised this week for her handling of Donald Trump surrogate Newt Gingrich's argument that she — and the media as a whole — are "fascinated with sex."
'You are fascinated with sex,' Newt Gingrich tells Megyn Kelly in heated exchange
The former House Speaker and presidential hopeful said the media has given an inordinate amount of coverage to the sexual assault allegations against Trump while ignoring the information that has been revealed in the leaked Clinton campaign emails. He also equated the accusations against Trump with those against Bill Clinton.
"The American public is less interested in the deeds of Hillary Clinton's husband than they are in the deeds of the man who asks us to make him president, Donald Trump," she continued. "We're going to have to leave it at that, and you can take your anger issues and spend some time working on them, Mr. Speaker."
