Megyn Kelly Lambasts CBS Anchor Over On-Air Tears Amid Producer Firings
Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly has recently released a nearly 13-minute video directed at CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil. As a former reporter and commentator at Fox News, she has been unrelentingly critical of Dokoupil for showing emotion on camera, specifically for crying during a segment. This incident came after Dokoupil gained attention earlier this week for his emotional response while speaking to CBS News Miami about his childhood in Florida. He was seen wiping his eyes repeatedly and seemed visibly upset. In response, Kelly used her talk show to strongly criticize Dokoupil for not being able to control his emotions in front of the camera.
There’s No Crying in News
According to Entertainment Weekly, at the start of her rant, Kelly famously stated, “There’s no crying in evening news.” She further explained that crying on the air was only acceptable in extreme situations, such as when a president was shot and killed. The example she cited would be when Walter Cronkite covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
However, Kelly made it clear that the CBS anchor’s situation did not warrant that response. It’s worth noting that Dokoupil’s emotional moment actually occurred in an online-only clip that was shared on CBS News’ social media accounts, not during the anchor’s live broadcast of CBS Evening News.
Megyn Kelly Questions Tony Dokoupil’s CBS Anchor Position
While Kelly questioned whether this level of emotional exposure was typical for news anchors, she also expressed concern over Dokoupil’s appointment by the newly appointed CBS News chief Bari Weiss. She called it the start of a new era she wasn’t happy with. Kelly further stated she “literally could not believe my eyes” when she saw the footage and went on to highlight some of his past interviews with the network to show her disdain for his style of reporting.
Kelly went as far as to reference the words of radio personality Adam Carolla. She called out Dokoupil for contributing to what she called the “feminization of the newsroom” in America.
Megyn Kelly and Mark Halperin Discuss the Clip
During the segment, Kelly and guest Mark Halperin watched a live clip of Dokoupil’s emotional moment, with Kelly making several exclamations along the way, such as “he’s crying,” “still crying,” “wiping his eye,” and “now his other eye.” Throughout the clip, Dokoupil reflected on his difficult childhood. He also admitted to the local reporter that he had not had much sleep the night before.
When the footage ended, Kelly said, “Oh my God. It’s a no,” expressing her dismay and disbelief. She suggested that she had expected the story to end with something dramatic, like “And [my family in Florida] were all killed in a house fire, and I was the sole survivor,” which she stated would have justified the tears. She then questioned the sobbing, the shaky voice, and the inability to regain composure, asking, “What is that?”
Halperin tried to offer some support, saying that he had some sympathy for Dokoupil because of his emotional connection to the topic of family, and he admitted that he, too, sometimes loses control of his emotions when reflecting on his own. However, he criticized CBS for choosing to use the footage as a promotional tool.
Kelly was unimpressed with this defense. She stated: “Oh, please,” and adding, “You would never cry like that on the air.”
Megyn Kelly’s Sharp Criticism of Tony Dokoupil
Megyn Kelly’s criticism of Dokoupil comes after she faced backlash in November for her podcast remarks (starting 28:00) regarding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She contended he was “not a pedophile” just because he “liked 15-year-old girls.”
Dokoupil’s new role as CBS Evening News anchor has drawn widespread criticism, with viewers expressing dissatisfaction over his coverage of the deadly ICE shooting of a woman in Minnesota. The CBS anchor additionally had an on-air flub which led him to call out “big problems” during a live broadcast. Entertainment Weekly and other reporting outlets have reached out to a representative for Dokoupil at CBS News for comment but have not heard back at this time.
