Megyn Kelly apologizes for defending blackface Halloween costumes

The Hollywood Reporter

After intense internet backlash, Kelly wrote an internal email to her NBC colleagues saying her comments this morning on Megyn Kelly Today were wrong. During a segment on controversial Halloween costumes, Kelly touched on Real Housewives of New York star Countess Luann de Lesseps's blackface Diana Ross costume. "But, what is racist?" she asked her panelists. "Because truly you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up as like a character." In her email, Kelly wrote: "I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry. The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep. I’ve never been a 'pc' kind of person — but I understand that we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age. Particularly on race and ethnicity issues which, far from being healed, have been exacerbated in our politics over the past year. This is a time for more understanding, love, sensitivity and honor, and I want to be part of that. I look forward to continuing that discussion."