Megyn Kelly launched into a fervent diatribe against journalist Bari Weiss following Weiss’s promotion of critical opinions on Kelly’s handling of conspiracy theories after the death of Charlie Kirk.
The 55-year-old Kelly accused the 41-year-old Weiss of exploiting Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, by portraying herself as Erika’s protector and defender.
The tension arose when Weiss shared comments from Ben Shapiro, who criticized Kelly for not addressing rampant conspiracy theories propagated by figures like Candace Owens.
During an event in Arizona, Kelly expressed her frustration, stating, “She’s retweeting Ben Shapiro’s speech, claiming anyone who doesn’t stand up to conspiracy theorists is a coward.”
Kelly also disapproved of Weiss’s interview with Erika Kirk during a town hall meeting the previous Saturday.
“Erika Kirk barely knows Bari Weiss,” Kelly retorted. “Bari doesn’t know anything about Erika. Bari Weiss has never attended a Turning Point event.”
‘Do you guys remember her here? Standing up for what we believe in when Charlie was alive? I don’t remember her standing up for our principles. I don’t remember her defending Charlie the many times he was called a racist or an antisemite. I really don’t remember that at all.’
Her comments came after Shapiro blasted Kelly and Tucker Carlson, a fellow former Fox host, for not speaking out about conspiracies surrounding death of Kirk, who was shot at a Utah university event, especially about Kirk’s close friend Owens.
Megyn Kelly, 55, accused Bari Weiss, 41, of exploiting Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, by ‘couching herself as Erika’s protector, Erika’s defender’ at an event on Friday
Weiss had recently criticized Kelly and agreed with Ben Shapiro, who said Kelly should have spoken up about the conspiracy theories surrounding Erika’s husband Charlie Kirk’s death
‘The fact that they have said nothing while Candace has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense into the public square for years is just as cowardly,’ he said at the time.
Weiss called the speak a ‘barnburner,’ in an X post on Thursday.
Erika attended a CBS town hall, which was moderated by Weiss, after her husband’s death.
Kelly accused media executive Weiss of trying to steal the spotlight from the network’s on-air talent.
‘Bari Weiss tried to play both super important VIP executive and super fabulous star anchor at her new network CBS. Pro tip Bari: That’s no way to win friends at your new organization,’ she said on Friday.
She also took issue with some of the questions poised to Erika, which Kelly said put the widow in a ‘position of having to defend whether [Donald] Trump used hateful rhetoric’.
‘The nerve!’ she blasted.
She concluded her tirade by saying she wouldn’t take tips from Weiss or Shapiro on how to treat Erika.
‘Erika Kirk barely knows Bari Weiss. Bari doesn’t know anything about Erika,’ Kelly said
Erika attended a CBS town hall, which was moderated by Weiss, after her husband’s death. Kelly took issue with some of the questions and Weiss stealing the spotlight from the network’s on-air talent to moderate the conversation
In November, Erika appeared on Kelly’s show to talk about her husband’s death.
The 37-year-old discussed her husband’s suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, whom she said at his memorial that she has forgiven.
‘The enemy would love for me to be angry,’ Erika told Kelly. ‘He would love it.’
She went on to explain that ill will, ‘would distract me from building what Charlie entrusted to me, raising our babies, Turning Point, being there for the team, being there for what the future holds.’
Kelly marveled at how Kirk had the capacity to forgive the 22-year-old.
