Megyn Kelly is leaving Fox News for NBC News

(Image credit: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)

published 3 January 2017

Megyn Kelly is leaving Fox News to join NBC News, NBC announced Tuesday.

Kelly was with Fox News for 12 years, most recently as the host of The Kelly Files, but was offered triple her role at NBC News, where she will host an hour-long daytime news show Monday through Friday, a Sunday night news show, and participate in the network’s special programs, such as major event coverage. The new schedule is reportedly appealing to Kelly in part because, with a daytime show, she will have more time to spend with her children and husband.

Kelly was Fox News' second-most watched host after Bill O'Reilly and her departure will leave a hole in the network's prime-time lineup just months after chairman Roger Ailes was ousted following sexual harassment allegations. In going to NBC, Kelly turns down $20 million offered to her by Fox to stay on after her current contract expires this summer. Her pay at NBC is undisclosed, but the network had "made it clear that they could not match that money from Fox," The New York Times writes.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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