Mean Megyn Mourned

In The New York Times, Batya Ungar-Sargon writes of missing the Fox News Megyn Kelly. That Megyn didn't worry about being liked and was tough on interviewees.

Her NBC morning show is all about "like me" soft topics. The author finds the new Megyn insipid, or worse.

You can catch Megyn Kelly on her new NBC program, “Megyn Kelly Today,” where she performs each morning as some horrific bizarro version of her former self.

It’s one of the bitterest ironies in television that it was at Fox News, network of blond bombshells and chronic sexual harassment, that Ms. Kelly was given the breathing room to become that most unusual of unicorns: an unlikable woman on television.

Maybe Roger Ailes had redeeming qualities after all? Ungar-Sargon concludes:

Whatever the reason, however, her descent into banal harmlessness operates as a cautionary tale to all women: You will have to be likable if you want to go mainstream.

"Likable" is a trait that's not easy to fake, even for someone as bright as Megyn. If it was, most bright people would be likable - obviously, not the case.