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Megyn Kelly talks about how ‘demeaning’ it was having to ‘spin’ for Roger Ailes

Megyn Kelly has not only watched Bombshell, the film about sexual harassment in the workplace under former Fox News honcho Roger Ailes, but she did so with a handful of fellow Fox News alums “who lived it.”

The news personality teased a forthcoming video she produced showing her screening the film, in which she’s portrayed by Charlize Theron, with former Fox employees Juliet Huddy, Rudi Bakhtiar and Julie Zann.

The women then sat down for an interview, conducted by Kelly, discussing being sexually harassed at the news network. They were joined in the emotional conversation by Kelly’s husband, Douglas Brunt, who was also portrayed in the film by Mark Duplass, and he became emotional hearing his wife recall having to do “the spin” for the enjoyment of Ailes.

The women discussed what they endured working under Ailes, who died in 2017 after being pushed out at the network amid the allegations.

Kelly then asked the women if they had to do “the spin” — a twirl to show off their bodies to the exec when they visited his office, which was included in the film.

Three of the finest actors in Hollywood transform themselves for this take on the sexual harassment allegations against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Charlize Theron is anchor Megyn Kelly, while John Lithgow portrays Ailes. (Credit: Lionsgate)
Three of the finest actors in Hollywood transform themselves for this take on the sexual harassment allegations against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Charlize Theron is anchor Megyn Kelly, while John Lithgow portrays Ailes. (Credit: Lionsgate)

Two of the women said they been asked to do it — and while one wasn’t, she said Ailes critiqued her body. Then Kelly was asked if she twirled for Ailes and admitted, regretfully, that she had.

“I was asked to do the spin… and God help me I did it,” Kelly admitted.

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 11:  Roger Ailes, President of Fox News Channel attends the Hollywood Reporter celebration of "The 35 Most Powerful People in Media" at the Four Season Grill Room on April 11, 2012 in New York City.  (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
Roger Ailes, pictured in 2012, resigned from Fox News in 2016 amid the sexual harassment allegations. He died the next year. (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

She went on to say, “I know people think ‘Oh, you had to spin around,’ but I remember feeling like: I put myself through school. I was offered partnership at Jones Day, one of the best law firms in the world. I argued before of federal courts of appeal all over the nation. I came here. I’m covering the United States Supreme Court. I graduated with honours from all of my programs. And now he wants me to twirl?! And I did it.”

Kelly admitted, “If you don’t get how demeaning that is, I can’t help you.”

Megyn Kelly's husband, Douglas Brunt, was emotional hearing her discuss being sexually harassed. (Screenshot: Megyn Kelly via YouTube)
Megyn Kelly's husband, Douglas Brunt, was emotional hearing her discuss being sexually harassed. (Screenshot: Megyn Kelly via YouTube)

Kelly’s husband since 2008, with whom she shares three children, was clearly emotional hearing his wife recount being harassed.

Ailes’s inappropriate workplace behavior was exposed publicly in 2016 when former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson — portrayed by Nicole Kidman in the film — filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Days later, it was revealed that Kelly had told investigators Ailes made "unwanted sexual advances toward her" at the start of her career. She joined the network in 2004 and left in 2017.

Douglas Brunt, left, and Megyn Kelly attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between exhibition on Monday, May 1, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Douglas Brunt, left, and Megyn Kelly attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between exhibition on Monday, May 1, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to say anything re Bombshell, a film re sex harass. at Fox,” Kelly tweeted on Thursday. “But in the end I wanted the women who lived it to have the last word. A group of us got together & watched, cried, & set the record straight.”

Bombshell comes to UK cinemas on 17 January.