Megyn Kelly won’t be booking A-list guests anytime soon.
Not only has the blonde TV personality been hit with criticism and poor ratings, it seems that celebrities are avoiding her talk show like the plague. According to Variety, a number of celebrity publicists are uncomfortable booking their clients for appearances on Megyn Kelly Today.
Video: Jimmy Kimmel Is Eager To Have Donald Trump On His Show
Thankfully, these PR mavens aren’t protesting the Today show altogether, as one unnamed powerhouse publicist shared:
“I’m not booking anyone on her show. I literally haven’t pitched anyone even from right out the gate. The buzz that is out there is so bad.”
YIKES! And this publicist isn’t the only one feeling this way as another spin-doctor noted:
“I won’t plan to have others go on,. None specifically have been offered or asked to, but it’ll be my preference not to.”
Not to mention, it’s said that publicists have been hesitant of the daytime program from the get-go.
Before the program aired, producers from Kelly’s show made a trip to El Lay in order to lock in PR relationships. Per inside sources, the meetings lacked direction, despite a promise of a “lighter” and more “inspirational” Megyn. Thus, few celebs jumped on the chance to appear on the new show.
Another industry professional cited Megyn’s Fox News past as a problem. The third publicist mentioned:
“I don’t even know if it’s as much her as it is Fox News. Because she came from Fox News, she was set up for failure because the industry is so polarized now and no one wants to touch anything associated with Trump.”
This is certainly troubling news for Kelly and co. as her competitors — such as The View, Live! With Kelly & Ryan, etc. — have all been able to book major guests. It probably doesn’t help that Kelly has offended high profile visitors, like the Will & Grace cast and Jane Fonda.
NBC has moved quickly to shut down these allegations as a spokesperson told the publication:
“We have celebrities booked for weeks and months to come.”
The network rep went on to note that Goldie Hawn, Alec Baldwin, and Miles Teller are all scheduled upcoming guests. Hmmm, very inneresting.
Also, not EVERY PR expert in town is ruling out Kelly’s show as some claim they are just waiting to see how everything pans out. In fact, Morgan Freeman‘s power publicist Stan Rosenfield said the actor had a “good experience” on the show and “looks forward to returning.”
Regardless, the former Fox News lackey seems unfazed by the negative feedback as it’s rumored she expected the transition to be a difficult one. A tipster close to Kelly relayed:
“Of course, there are going to be kinks in the first weeks, but people are being negative and unfair… [Stephen] Colbert got killed his first week and first month.”
We guess we’ll just have to wait and see!!
[Image via NBC.]
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