Megyn Kelly finally shot back at Jane Fonda on her NBC show Monday morning, spending a segment brutally roasting the actress for her plastic surgery, “moral indignation” and even her decades-old opposition to the Vietnam War.
Kelly was responding to Fonda’s continued jabs at her since the pair’s awkward interview — which went south after she asked the actress about her plastic surgery. Fonda told Variety over the weekend that she would appear on Megyn Kelly Today again — but only if the host “learns her stuff.”
And Kelly did not pull punches in her response, explaining that she previously wanted to ignore Fonda’s criticisms.
“Now, a word on Jane Fonda, who appears to be fixated on an exchange I had with her months ago on this show,” Kelly started, pointing out that the actress was on to promote her film about aging.
“It’s time to address the ‘poor me’ routine,” Kelly said.
“For years she has spoke about the joy of giving a cultural face to older women,” Kelly continued. “The truth is, most older women look nothing like Fonda, who is now 80. And if Fonda really wants to have an honest discussion about older women’s cultural face, then her plastic surgery is tough to ignore.”
Just as importantly, Kelly pointed out that Fonda has frequently discussed her cosmetic surgery “pretty much everywhere,” but “when she came here, however, again to promote her film about aging, I was supposed to discern that this subject was suddenly off limits.”
The NBC host claimed she had “no regrets” about the question, before launching into a blistering condemnation of Jane Fonda’s history of controversial comments:
"I have no regrets about that question, nor am I in the market for a lesson from Jane Fonda on what is and is not appropriate. This is a woman whose name is synonymous with outrage. Look at her treatment of military during the Vietnam War. Many of our veterans still call her ‘Hanoi Jane,’ thanks to her radio broadcast which attempted to shame American troops. She posed on an anti-aircraft gun used to shoot down our American pilots. She called our P.O.W.s hypocrites and liars and referred to their torture as ‘understandable.’Even she had to apologize years later for that gun picture. But not for the rest of it. By the way she says she is not proud of America. So, the moral indignation is a little much. She put her plastic surgery out there."
Ouch.
All that comes in response to Fonda’s latest comments, this time at the Sundance Film Festival, after she was asked by Variety if she would return to Kelly’s show.
“Sure,” she replied. “It wasn’t like I was upset. I was stunned. It was so inappropriate. It showed that she’s not that good an interviewer. But if she comes around and learns her stuff, sure.”
The feud was kicked off by Fonda in September, when she appeared on Kelly’s then-nascent NBC morning show to promote her movie Our Souls at Night alongside co-star Robert Redford.
Things got awkward after Kelly asked Fonda about her plastic surgery.
“I read that you said that you felt you’re not proud to admit you’ve had work done,” Kelly said. “Why not?”
A visibly agitated Fonda responded, “We really wanna talk about that now?”
