Megyn Kelly lost her job on NBC for suggesting that wearing blackface was appropriate if it was part of a Halloween costume.
In her segment on politically correct Halloween costumes, Kelly responded to her co-host saying “Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface, or a Black person who puts on whiteface on Halloween. When I was a kid that was okay as long as you were dressing up like a character.”
She also defended Real Housewives of New York cast member Luann de Lesseps who dressed as Diana Ross, whom she admires. Luann wore dark makeup and a wig to complete her costume.
“Who doesn’t love Diana Ross?” said Kelly. “She wants to look like Diana Ross for one day. I don’t know how that got racist on Halloween.”
Kelly was fired from her show following the public uproar over her comments.
NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt covered the Megyn Kelly story last week. He discussed Kelly’s “blackface” comments but he didn’t mention whiteface — and for good reason.
Mediate blog found a photo of Holt dressed up as British chanteuse Susan Boyle, who is Caucasian. Holt, who is mixed race, wears whiteface makeup, a wig and a dress for Halloween.
Then there is Jimmy Fallon, whose running skits as former Utah Jazz NBA star Karl Malone and comedian Chris Tucker, both of whom are Black, drew big laughs. Fallon, who is white, didn’t just wear blackface makeup, He also spoke “with a defined speech impediment” to suggest that Malone was less than intelligent.
Mediate called out NBC for its hypocrisy in firing Kelly for just talking about blackface Halloween costumes — while two of the network’s biggest stars actually dressed up as someone of a different race.
