‘Today’ Show Execs Are Freaking out About Megyn Kelly’s Bad Reviews and Fan Backlash

Yikes. Megyn Kelly’s new gig hosting the third hour of the Today show is off to a very rocky start — and NBC executives are low-key freaking out about it, according to Life & Style. “Megyn just doesn’t come across to the viewers as authentic,” said a network insider, trying to explain why the reviews of the new segment have been so harsh.

After being called “awkward” in many reviews, Megyn was dubbed “more chilly than chill” by Time and “a Bride of Frankenstein using parts of Ellen DeGeneres and Kelly Ripa and whatever else it can find,” by The Washington Post. Megyn is reportedly taking the comments pretty hard. “[She] was absolutely mortified,” said a source. “Leaving Fox was a huge gamble for her and she doesn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her fail.” However, another network source says she’s not really stressing… yet.

Megyn has had her fair share of controversy since her big debut on Sept. 25. Just in her first two weeks, she’s offended thousands by first asking a Will & Grace fan, “is it true that you became a lawyer — and you became gay — because of Will?” Then she made matters worse by clearly upsetting Jane Fonda by asking her about her plastic surgery in front of co-star Robert Redford when they were promoting their movie. “With Bob there, it was just a strange question,” Jane told Life & Style at the_ Our Souls At Night_ premiere on Sept. 27.

Jane Fonda is unhappy on Megyn Kelly’s show.

The ratings actually haven’t been that bad considering the show is competing pretty well against Live with Kelly and Ryan, though they did drop off very quickly after the first week. However, the fan backlash has the network insider thinking the show “could be a sinking ship that goes down quickly.” Megyn better get it together ASAP if she doesn’t want that to happen!