Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s new NBC talk show debut got off to a rocky start on Monday after the journalist and political commentator made a series of cringe-worthy remarks during a segment on the eagerly-anticipated Will & Grace revival.
Kelly, 46, was joined by stars Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Meghan Mullally and Sean Hayes on the inaugural episode of NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today Show ahead of the hit sitcom’s return to screens this week after an 11-year absence – but it was her strained interaction with a Will & Grace superfan in the audience that had viewers burying their heads behind a cushion.
After long-time fan of the show Russel was invited on stage to meet his idols, Kelly asked – apparently in an attempt at a joke – whether the show turned him gay.
“Is it true that you became a lawyer—and you became gay—because of Will?” she said.
Here is Megyn Kelly telling a gay #WillAndGrace superfan, “I think the ‘Will & Grace’ thing and the gay thing’s gonna work out great.”
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— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) September 25, 2017
It only got worse from there. After giving Russel a pair of tickets to a taping of Will & Grace in Los Angeles, Kelly finished wrapped up the segment wby saying: “I don’t know about the lawyer thing, but I think the Will & Grace thing and the gay thing is going to work out great”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kelly’s grating attempts at humour didn’t go down too well online.
“And the award for most cringeworthy talk show debut goes to..” wrote one user.
Another added: “Megyn Kelly is every mom trying waaaaay to hard to “relate” to her gay son but instead just makes it waaaaay worse.”
“I think the Will & Grace thing and the gay thing are going to work out great,” Megyn Kelly said to a gay W&G superfan this morning. Really.
— Kevin Fallon (@kpfallon) September 25, 2017
And the award for most cringeworthy talk show debut goes to.. Megyn Kelly for asking a Will & Grace fan if the show is why they “became gay” pic.twitter.com/Ij3LjDpEox
— Steven Grossman (@stevengrossman) September 25, 2017
Megyn Kelly is every mom trying waaaaay to hard to “relate” to her gay son but instead just makes it waaaaay worse pic.twitter.com/dh2sSi2kVq
— Will Kellogg (@Will_Kellogg) September 25, 2017
You can watch the segment in full below ahead of Will & Grace’s return to screens in the US this Thursday 28 September on NBC.
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