Ever since Charlize Theron played Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, the two haven’t always had the nicest things to say about one another. The 2019 drama movie Bombshell is based on the real-life accounts of the women at Fox News who told their stories to expose former Fox CEO Roger Ailes for Sєxual harᴀssment. Bombshell features an ensemble cast including arguably the three most recognizable actresses working in Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie as the three figures at the center of the story: Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, and Kayla Pospisil, respectively.

While Pospisil is a composite character, Kelly and Carlson are real people and former TV personalities on Fox News. The film was a moderate critical success, earning a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, though it did clean up at awards ceremonies, earning three Academy Award nominations and winning for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. With such a personal story, and one with modern and ongoing reverberations, this was always going to be a touchy project for those involved, and Charlize Theron and Megyn Kelly have not been afraid to speak their minds about it.

Theron Said She Had “Empathy” For Megyn Kelly After Playing Her In Bombshell

March 10, 2019

After it was announced that Charlize Theron would be playing Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, the actress became a bit of a spokesperson for the film, in part because of her producing credit. Theron discussed how portraying Megyn Kelly gave her a lot of empathy for the broadcaster as she came to learn just how much she went through (via Variety),

“I didn’t know how complicated her situation was and I think for a lot of people, they didn’t understand why she didn’t just speak up. She was in a complicated place and as a human being, I have empathy for that. I don’t think a lot of people truly understood that.”

Theron was not familiar with some of the finer details of the Roger Ailes Sєxual ᴀssault case, but in her time preparing for the role, she came to see how difficult of a position Kelly was in.

Theron Said Playing Kelly Was “Harder” Than Playing Real-Life Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos

October 21, 2019

Later in the year, Charlize Theron spoke about how difficult it was to play Megyn Kelly, someone whose viewpoints she publically and vehemently opposes. When asked to compare playing Kelly and playing Aileen Wuornos, a real-life serial killer who Theron won an Oscar for portraying in the 2003 film, Monster, Theron said (via People),

“This was harder. She’s incredibly well known. I’ve never played anybody on that level. I’ve played real people that nobody knows about so there was less pressure when I did those.”

Playing a well-known figure seems to be much more of a difficult task than playing one audiences may not be so familiar with. Despite the intensity of her Monster role, Bombshell required a different kind of effort, an effort that was clearly a lot for Theron. She had to mimic voice patterns, affectations, and the physicality of someone many people have watched on television nearly every day.

Theron Said She Was “Scared” About Playing Kelly

December 19, 2019

A month later, after her Monster comments, Charlize Theron said that she was, “…s**t scared” about playing Megyn Kelly and even called up the director, Jay Roach, and asked, “Am I f*****g crazy?” (via CNN). According to Theron,

“This [Kelly] was not a person who was easy for me to wrap my arms around.”

Theron has been vocal about how she doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Kelly. She identifies as a liberal and mentioned that Kelly and some other women in the film have said things that she found deeply upsetting. However, she was able to find some common ground during her research for the role,

“But at the same time, as a woman, understanding what each of them went through and understanding what Megyn was facing, especially in those two weeks where she didn’t step forward and she didn’t support Gretchen [Carlson], that’s when I emotionally tapped into her because I started to see similarities between us, dare I say that.”

While she had her problems with Kelly, Theron still found ways to identify and said,

“I have nothing but respect for each and every one of them, for what they stood up for, what they risked.”

Kelly Said She Had “Zero Connection To The Film” On Instagram

January 9, 2020

As for Kelly, she didn’t say much until January 9, 2020, when she posted on her Instagram with the caption,

“The movie ‘Bombshell’ is a Hollywood film about the Sєxual harᴀssment scandal at Fox News. I have zero connection to the film, and hold no stake at all in it.

I do, however, have a connection to many of the women who actually lived it.

Here is their account.”

Kelly was not approached about the film and so didn’t give her account directly to the filmmakers. Despite not using some of the real people involved in the case, Bombshell hews very closely to the real events that happened. Kelly’s comment about having zero connection to the film but still sharing the trailer suggested she did approve of it at the very least.

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Kelly Hosted A Round Table With Other People Featured In The Movie

January 9, 2020

The same day as the Instagram post, Megyn Kelly posted a 30-minute video to her YouTube channel, Megyn Kelly, тιтled “Megyn Kelly Presents: A Response to ‘Bombshell’ – Full Discussion“. In the video, Kelly is joined by Juliet Huddy, Rudi Bakhtiar, and Julie Zann, all former Fox News journalists whose claims against Roger Ailes formed the basis of Bombshell. They were also joined by Kelly’s husband Douglas Brunt. Together they watched a screening of the film and then offered their thoughts on it.

Together, they agree the film got a lot right, but also missed some important details. One issue Kelly had was that in the film, it appears that Kelly sought the Murdochs’ approval before asking the now-famous 2015 debate question to Donald Trump about his insulting comments about women. In reality, Kelly says, she never asked anyone’s permission and Ailes actually told her not to do it. Kelly also noted that none of the women had sold their rights to the filmmakers (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline),

“…so it was somewhat jarring to see a version of our experiences told by strangers.”

Kelly Said She Is “100% Against Charlize Theron” On Her Support For Drag Queen Shows

May 12, 2023

Things started to break down between Megyn Kelly and Charlize Theron in 2023 when Charlize Theron appeared during a Drag Isn’t Dangerous telethon to voice her support of the drag community. She said in the video (via People),

“We love you queens. We’re in your corner and we’ve got you, and I will f**k anybody up who’s trying to f**k with anything with you guys”

She went on to add,

“There are so many things that are hurting and, really, killing our kids, and we all know what I’m talking about right now and it ain’t no drag queen — because if you’ve ever seen a drag queen lip-sync for her life, it only makes you happier, it only make you love more, it makes you a better person.”

On her radio show on Sirius XM, The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly, whose views have traditionally aligned with the American political right, said (via Instagram),

“Why doesn’t Charlize Theron come and f-ck me up? Because I’m 100% against her on this.”

Kelly has frequently vocalized her opposition to transgender healthcare, calling it, “a weird form of conversion therapy“; said she was, “done with ‘preferred pronouns’“; and was a featured speaker at a Moms for Liberty event, a group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an “Extremist Group” (via GLAAD).

Kelly Was Angry With Theron For Her Comments On The Bombshell Press Tour

May 10, 2024

Megyn Kelly’s most recent comments came in May 2024, when she expressed her ire with Charlize Theron for getting the timeline of the Roger Ailes Sєxual ᴀssault case wrong during the Bombshell press tour. According to Kelly, Theron said during the tour that Megyn Kelly was “…late to the party…” when it came to coming forward about the Sєxual harᴀssment and ᴀssault. She said on her show (via YouTube),

“B***h, you weren’t even at the party. You never f*****g came forward with any allegations, I’m sure you were harrᴀssed but you were too p***y-footed to say anything about it.”

Charlize Theron did actually previously come forward with allegations against a director and a producer. In 2019, she revealed she disclosed a director’s name multiple times but the journalist she spoke to decided not to identify the name of the director (via People). She also recounted an uncomfortable experience that she had with a producer (via People). During an audition, the producer put his hand on her leg so she immediately left the home. In response to the Harvey Weinstein allegations, Theron said,

“The women who have spoken about their abuse are brave and heroic and although I didn’t have a personal experience like this with Harvey Weinstein, I unfortunately cannot say I’m surprised This culture has always existed, not just in Hollywood but across the world. And many men in positions of power have gotten away with it for far too long. We cannot blame the victims here.”

Charlize Theron has not responded to Megyn Kelly’s comments.