Podcaster Megyn Kelly was called out by a former friend and Fox News colleague for sneering at actress Christina Applegate, who recently learned that her illness is not multiple sclerosis (MS).
According to Page Six, former Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean accused Kelly of becoming a “mean girl” to stay relevant. Kelly left Fox News for NBC and was ousted in 2018 after defending blackface Halloween costumes.
Dean told Page Six she had tried to stay "mum" about her former friend’s on-air attacks, but couldn’t once Kelly went after the MS community.
“I’m sick of her using her platform to put people down… She goes to the lowest denominator and constantly puts women down,” said Dean, who has battled MS for 23 years.
Dean also has a theory about why Kelly spews vitriol in her independent hosting era.
“She doesn’t have any close friends. She’s secluded herself to live in Connecticut, and doesn’t get out into the world. It’s very isolating and she doesn’t have someone pulling her in to check her,” Dean said.
Dean, who has been in and out of the hospital in recent weeks, said she’ll say more when she’s well enough. “I don’t want to go down the road she’s gone down. I don’t want to fight in the gutter, but I do want to raise awareness,” she said.
Kelly took aim at Applegate on her SiriusXM show after the actress revealed she had been misdiagnosed.
“She’s crying now because I guess she no longer gets to be the face of this disease, and as she says, she’s back to ‘square one.’ She’s made like a cottage industry of talking about her MS,” Kelly said.
Dean responded on X, calling Kelly a “mean girl.”
“She used to be one of my closest friends… Her comments about [Applegate] are disgusting,” Dean wrote on X.
She told Page Six that Kelly’s remarks were “so heartless for a woman misdiagnosed and doesn’t know where to turn.”
“[MS] is a very misunderstood disease. We have no cure. It saps you of everything when you’re not feeling well. It took my job away from me,” Dean said tearfully.
Dean said she’s grateful for celebrities like Applegate who speak publicly about the disease and other illnesses.
“I want to say more in defense of the people who put their reputations on the line, and their body of work, to say, ‘I’m vulnerable and I’m sick’… It’s the loneliest place you can be. To hear [Applegate] cry and have Megyn Kelly use that against her is disgusting,” she said.
According to Page Six, Kelly has not responded to Dean or commented on the backlash.