Megyn Kelly Criticizes Stephen Colbert’s Farewell Meltdown, Compares It to Her NBC Exit

Megyn Kelly sharply criticized Stephen Colbert on Friday for his emotional reaction to the cancellation of The Late Show, drawing a direct comparison to her own departure from NBC in 2019.

During a segment on The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly celebrated the end of Colbert’s late-night tenure after CBS announced the cancellation last year. She reserved particular disdain for Colbert’s Thursday episode with former host David Letterman, which she described as a “bizarre goodbye” and a “hissy fit temper tantrum.”

“Praise Jesus, my God. It’s gone on forever, but not before he throws a hissy fit temper tantrum with the former host of the CBS program. He and Letterman got together to just express how very, very angry they are about poor Stephen Colbert’s show getting canceled. Cry me a river, would you take it like a man? Honestly, where are your testicles? This is so humiliating. We know you got canceled.”

Kelly then contrasted Colbert’s reaction with her own experience after being fired from NBC, where she faced widespread criticism and accusations of racism.

“When I got canned from NBC, everyone was calling me a racist. They were humiliating me everywhere. Yes, I got a little teary the day after, because it was overwhelming. That was it. I didn’t blubber and blubber on. I didn’t ask everybody to feel so sorry for me days on end, nor would I have had they given me the opportunity to stay on the air. Take it like a man. Stop it. Stop this. Put your big boy pants on and exit with grace. You’re humiliating yourself. Truly, you’re humiliating mankind. I don’t want my sons to see this behavior. This is so embarrassing. You didn’t get cancer, you got canceled! It happens. Grow up.”

Colbert’s penultimate week included a segment with Letterman, where they symbolically destroyed CBS property—including the network’s iconic eye logo—by tossing it off the studio roof. Colbert’s final episode airs on May 21, after which the timeslot will be replaced by Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed.

Letterman previously criticized CBS on his podcast, calling the network’s decision cowardly and accusing executives of lying about the reasons behind the cancellation.

“TV may be not the money machine it once was. On the other hand, what about the humanity for Stephen and the humanity of people who love him and the humanity for people who still enjoyed that 11:30 respite? He was dumped because the people selling the network to Skydance said, ‘Oh no, there’s not going to be any trouble with that guy. We’re going to take care of the show. We’re just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the check dry?’ I’m just going to go on record as saying: They’re lying … They’re lying weasels.”