CNN host and media reporter Brian Stelter on Friday said that Megyn Kelly, who is on her way out as an NBC morning show host, was being "paid too much" at the network.
Stelter appeared on CNN's "New Day" where he and the show's co-hosts discussed the backlash Kelly has received from NBC for comments she made about "blackface" on her show this week. She got into hot water for defending reality TV star Luann de Lesseps on Tuesday after the reality TV star darkened her skin to look like Diana Ross.
"You do get in trouble if a white person puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person puts on whiteface at Halloween … like when I was a kid that was OK if you were dressing up as, like, a character," Kelly said.
Stelter chimed in on the rocky relationship Kelly has had with NBC over the last year, saying there was a lot of resentment among staff and executives, prompting co-host Alisyn Camerota to say, "She was also paid a lot."
"She was paid too much," Stelter said. "$23 million per year."
Stelter later talked about how Kelly aggressively covered #MeToo cases on her show and that she challenged NBC management in a public manner.
While Kelly's three-year $69 million deal with NBC is much higher than most other network TV host salaries, former NBC "Today" co-host Matt Lauer was making between $22-25 million per year before he was fired for "inappropriate sexual behavior" last November. Forbes also lists ABC's "Good Morning America Day" host Michael Strahan with an annual salary of $21.5 million. Former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly brought in $37 million last year and current Fox News host Sean Hannity brought in $36 million in 2017.