Jane Fonda Feels Sympathy For Megyn Kelly After ‘Today’ Cancellation

Megyn Kelly and Jane Fonda may not have had the best relationship, but the writer, actress, and political activist still hoped Kelly would succeed as host of the Megyn Kelly Today show. According to People, Fonda told Entertainment Tonight that she feels “badly” for the host, whose show was canceled after she made offensive comments about wearing blackface.

The 80-year-old Barbarella star says that she was pulling for Kelly.

“I feel badly, because, you know, I wanted her to make it, I did,” said Fonda.

“That’s always how everyone learns is through making mistakes, you know. It’s through failure that we grow and learn. I know that has been true for me, and I think it is for everybody.”

Fonda and Kelly’s relationship had a rocky start when Kelly awkwardly asked the star about her plastic surgery in a September 2017 interview.

“You’ve been an example to everyone in how to age beautifully and with strength and unapologetically,” Kelly said on the show.

“You admit that you’ve had work done, which I think is to your credit. And you look amazing. Why did you say, I read that you said, you’re not proud to admit you had work done. Why not?”

At the time, Fonda says she wasn’t upset at Kelly’s question, but she was shocked, noting that the question revealed that Megyn wasn’t very good at interviewing people. She pushed back at Kelly, asking if that was really the topic she wanted to pursue.

“It was so inappropriate,” she said.

Fonda artfully dodged answering the question, saying that she appreciated the compliment that she looked good for her age, and then pivoted to discussing her movie, Our Souls at Night.

Kelly defended her comments on the show after facing intense backlash for the interview, saying that 80-year-old women don’t look like Fonda. She declared that if women like Fonda want to talk honestly about aging, they need to be open about any work they’ve had done to enhance their appearance. The host then lambasted Fonda, saying that she wanted to discuss a film about aging, but apparently, appearance was off-limits.

The feud might have ended there, but Kelly went on to criticize Fonda for her opposition to the war in Vietnam.

“[S]he has no business lecturing anyone on what qualifies as offensive,” said the 47-year-old host.

Earlier this month, Kelly spoke in an interview with US Weekly, saying she regretted having Fonda on her show.