Fox News host Megyn Kelly isn’t sure if it is ethical to be reporting on thousands of Sony’s emails leaked by a cyberterrorist group called Guardians of Peace.
“Some of the racially tinged comments that were made by the executives, that’s crossed over to straight news and we reported it. But I gotta tell you, as soon as I reported it I thought, ‘I don’t know if I did the right thing,’” Kelly said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Wednesday. “I don’t know if we should be dining on the carcass of someone’s dead privacy rights.”
The “Kelly File” host is likely referring to co-chair Amy Pascal making racial jokes about President Obama’s movie choices with producer Scott Rudin. Both have since apologized for an email thread, in which they joke about movies with black leads being the first black president’s favorite of the year.
As it turns out, however, Richard Linklater‘s coming-of-age movie “Boyhood” is Obama’s favorite.
“When you see celebrities involved, and you see famous people involved, you forget that these are privacy issues,” Kimmel said. “These are serious things.”
Kelly also weighed in on Sony’s decision to pull “The Interview” from theaters before it’s Christmas Day release date, which she called “deeply troubling” — a sentiment many in Washington, D.C., have shared.
“I think it is deeply troubling. But the more I think about it the only message back has to be from the American consumer,” Kelly said. “Because what are we going to do, cut off diplomations with North Korea? Oh wait. Are we going to send some sort of stern message to Kim Jong-un that he is going to understand? Probably not.”
While a Sony spokesperson told TheWrap the studio “has no further release plans for the film,” Kelly thinks “they’ve gotta release it in some fashion.” And when Sony does, Kelly hopes Americans will retaliate against the terrorists with their wallets.
“Whether you like the idea of this picture, you like these actors, you like Sony or not. I think the American people have to act with their pocketbooks. Whether it’s buying the movie, three of them on DVD. Ordering it on Pay Per View,” Kelly said. “They have to release in some fashion so the American people can have the final say on this.”
Kelly says she understands why movie theaters refused to show the R-rated comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco after threats of a 9/11-like attack, but believes there is a lot to be gained by releasing it on DVD or On Demand.
“I think people would say I’m going to buy that DVD, or I’m going to download it. And I’ll do it twice. Even if I don’t want to watch this stupid movie because it doesn’t appeal to me, I’m going to send a message,” Kelly said. “I don’t think that this is going to be handled at the governmental level … there’s only so much they can do. I think the message has to come from the American people.”