Megyn Kelly will not travel to South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics in February, instead hosting coverage of the international event on her show from New York City.
Kelly, formerly a host at Fox News, is now NBC News’ highest paid “Today” host after the firing of Matt Lauer, raking in about $23 million a year.
Instead of the typical three weeks of on-the-spot coverage NBC typically supplies during Olympics, it will only cover two weeks, reported the outlet.
That coverage begins on Monday, Feb. 12—day four of the games.
The show will go on air at 7 a.m. ET, followed by Kelly’s hour, then an hour co-hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager.
“This is incredibly embarrassing for Megyn,” said one NBC News insider. “Anybody who’s anybody at NBC goes to the Olympics.”
A columnist for The Hill media told the broadcaster that “It is odd that NBC News would leave its highest-paid host at home.”
“Kelly, who likes to interject herself into every story might have been a bad fit at the Olympic games. The story is supposed to be about the athletes and not about the Anchors, it would have been a bad fit for Kelly and it appears that NBC saw that,” Jones wrote.
