Megyn Kelly Under Fire for Attacking Cornell Accuser’s Looks: ‘What the F*ck Is Wrong With You?’

 
Megyn Kelly

The Megyn Kelly Show/YouTube

Megyn Kelly is facing a wave of backlash from critics over targeting the looks of the Jane Doe accuser at the center of the “Cornell 7” rape case.

Doe has accused seven of her Cornell classmates of sexual assault, and it’s quickly become a lightning rod for a culture war battle as some have fiercely defended the accused while others have expressed outrage over the handling of the case. New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) recently appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor in the case.

Kelly has been one of the most vocal pundits questioning Doe’s allegations and defending the students accused. She set off critics recently though as a recent clip from her show shot across social media.

On The Megyn Kelly Show on September 30, Kelly suggested Jane Doe consented to sex with multiple people because she’s “not the most attractive gal.”

Kelly said:

No one will even consider the possibility that this woman made a decision to get it on with four men total, not seven, and enjoyed it because, I’m just gonna be honest, she’s not the most attractive gal. She’s extremely beefy in like her arms and her legs. She has a whole video online talking about her cankles. And she possibly enjoyed being admired. This is how women make these mistakes.

Kelly said the woman was “probably thrilled to be admired.”

She said:

She’s probably thrilled to be so admired because she clearly didn’t grow up the incredibly beautiful one. I’m not trying to be insulting. I’m just trying to tell you the narrative that is likely to have occurred here, in my opinion. And why can’t we account for that possibility? That the girl who was never the most sought after suddenly had four guys who wanted to have sex with her. And she counted this, yeah, in her inebriated state, as a win. And liked the feeling of being sexy and desired and wanted. It happens. Sorry, it does. And that’s why she kept saying yes. Why do we have to go right to she’s a victim? Even she took weeks to get there.

As the comments have spread, critics have blasted Kelly for focusing on the alleged victim’s looks. Among them is the accuser’s lawyer.

Thomas P. Giuffra, the attorney for Jane Doe, told The Daily Beast, “Perhaps she should reflect why it is difficult for women to come forward under these circumstances and honor the courage that it takes.”

The lawyer also, as other critics did, brought up Kelly’s own allegations of sexual harassment against Roger Ailes.

“Ms. Kelly has publicly condemned Ms. Doe for taking two weeks to go to the police. I would ask Ms. Kelly why it took her over a decade to report unwanted sexual advances from her boss,” Giuffra said.

Actress and activist Alyssa Milano took to Substack this week to post a lengthy response to Kelly in which she asked, “What the f*ck is wrong with you?”

“You owe women an apology for promoting misogyny. You owe Jane Doe an apology for making her body part of your dumb argument. You owe your audience a correction: your opinion of a victim has nothing to do with her consent. You are part of the problem,” Milano wrote.

Other critics similarly torched Kelly over her focus on Doe’s physical looks and her delay in coming forward with her allegations.

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Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.