The Kelly File

The Kelly File
Show name	The Kelly File
Caption	Promotional logo
Genre	News commentary
Presenter	Megyn Kelly
Country	United States
Language	English
Runtime	60 minutes
Channel	Fox News Channel
First aired	2013
Last aired	2017

The Kelly File was an American television news and opinion program hosted by Megyn Kelly on Fox News Channel. The series combined interviews, commentary, and investigative segments on contemporary political, legal, and cultural issues. It aired in prime time and became known for high-profile interviews and legal-focused reporting.

Overview

The program positioned itself within cable news primetime alongside programs anchored by Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Don Lemon, Bret Baier, Wolf Blitzer, Shepard Smith, Brian Williams, George Stephanopoulos, Lester Holt, Megyn Kelly being the presenter. It covered topics involving figures such as Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeb Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau, Narendra Modi, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Pope Francis, Dalai Lama. The show often examined legal disputes, investigative reporting, and electoral politics involving institutions such as the Supreme Court of the United States, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Department of Justice (United States), and major events like the 2016 United States presidential election, 2012 United States presidential election, 2008 United States presidential election, September 11 attacks, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, Financial crisis of 2007–2008, and international summits like the G7 summit.

Format and Segments

The one-hour format mixed interviews, monologues, and investigative packages. Regular segments featured legal analysis referencing personalities such as Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham, Chris Christie, Al Sharpton, Gloria Allred, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Mueller, James Comey, Eric Holder, Sally Yates, Stuart Varney, Karl Rove, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Palin, and corporate leaders from Amazon (company), Apple Inc., Google LLC, Facebook, Microsoft, Uber Technologies, Tesla, Inc., Walt Disney Company, The New York Times Company, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News, Bloomberg L.P., Reuters, Associated Press. Investigative pieces sometimes referenced legal cases heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and individuals profiled included celebrities and cultural figures such as Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé Knowles, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan.

Host and On-Air Personnel

The program was fronted by Megyn Kelly, with contributions from producers and correspondents who had backgrounds alongside anchors and reporters including Megyn Kelly's contemporaries at Fox like Chris Wallace, Maria Bartiromo, Harris Faulkner, Ainsley Earhardt, Jesse Watters, Gregg Jarrett, Tucker Carlson (later host elsewhere), and recurring guests from law and politics such as Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Anthony Weiner, Michael Flynn, Carter Page, Omarosa Manigault Newman, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Kellyanne Conway.

Notable Episodes and Interviews

The series booked high-profile interviews with figures across politics and media including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Hillary Clinton (commentary surrounding), Sarah Palin, Bret Baier-adjacent political guests, as well as world leaders and public intellectuals like Noam Chomsky, Fareed Zakaria, Thomas Friedman, Fareed Zakaria's peers. Episodes addressed crises involving Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Maria, mass shootings such as Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Las Vegas shooting, Pulse nightclub shooting, and terror incidents like Paris attacks of November 2015 and the Manchester Arena bombing. The show also conducted investigative interviews tied to legal proceedings like the United States v. Microsoft Corp. antitrust era, and corporate controversies involving Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Enron scandal, Theranos, Volkswagen emissions scandal.

Reception and Criticism

Critics and commentators from outlets related to The New York Times Company, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Atlantic', Salon (website), Vox (website), Daily Beast, New York Post, National Review, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Economist discussed the show's blend of advocacy and journalism. Commentators compared it with programs anchored by Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow, and Anderson Cooper, debating journalistic standards, guest selection, and editorial decisions. The program attracted both praise for tough interviews and criticism over perceived partisanship or controversy surrounding on-air comments, including disputes involving figures like Megyn Kelly herself and public responses from Chelsea Clinton, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and entertainment industry reactions.

Ratings and Broadcast History

Airing in primetime on Fox News Channel, the program competed with programs on MSNBC, CNN, and broadcast networks' newsmagazines. Ratings were tracked by Nielsen ratings, and fluctuated around major events such as the 2016 United States presidential election, 2018 United States midterm elections, and breaking news days like the Boston Marathon bombing. Syndication, special editions, and substitute hosts connected the show to anchors across the field, and the program's schedule shifts reflected broader lineup changes at Fox Corporation, including talent moves that involved Roger Ailes-era personnel and executives such as Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch.

Legacy and Influence

The program's combination of legal-oriented interviews and personality-driven commentary influenced later cable programs and digital news formats. Its role in elevating certain political narratives and subjects echoed across media outlets including Axios, BuzzFeed, HuffPost, Breitbart News, The Intercept, ProPublica, and public discourse around media practices cited by scholars at institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Oxford, London School of Economics, and think tanks like Brookings Institution, Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, Center for American Progress.

Category:Fox News shows