For years, Megyn Kelly has been making waves with her fashion choices and her no-holds-barred
style of reporting.
Equal parts sassy, sexy, and direct, her personal and professional transformation has been stunning.
Destined for news
Growing up in the Albany suburb of Delmar, New York, Kelly attended Bethlehem Central
High School, where she took a career aptitude test that suggested she was well-suited for
news.
But while she was accepted to Syracuse University, she didn't get into the communications program.
So after graduating from high school in 1988, she majored in political science instead.
While there, Kelly was a member of the student senate and was on a panel that investigated
faculty sexual harassment cases.
Serving on the student senate is reportedly what inspired her to attend Albany Law School,
where she served as editor of the Albany Law Review.
After her 1995 graduation, she practiced law as a corporate litigator at Jones Day for
nine years and was an associate in the Chicago office of the law firm Bickel & Brewer LLP.
She explained to Business Insider:
"I started off as a lawyer for almost a decade before I decided I was completely burned out.
When choosing a new profession, I just said to myself: 'What can I do that would utilize
some of these skills, but that I would enjoy a little more and will also be fun and still
intellectually stimulating?'
And this was an obvious choice."
ABC to Fox
Before joining Fox News in 2004 as a network correspondent, Kelly worked as a general assignment
reporter for Washington, D.C.'s ABC affiliate.
There, she covered national and local stories, including the 2004 presidential race and the
D.C. sniper saga.
Known at the time as Megyn Kendall after taking the last name of her then-husband, anesthesiologist
Daniel Kendall, Kelly was destined for bigger things.
She got her demo tape into the hands of Kim Hume, wife of news correspondent Brit Hume,
who then got it in front of Fox News chair Roger Ailes.
The rest is Fox News history.
Taking on Britney
In January 2009, Megyn Kelly criticized Britney Spears for the song "If You Seek Amy" for
the reportedly sexually explicit and profane lyrics in the song.
"If you seek Amy–doesn't make any sense does it?"
"If you say it quickly, with no space in between the letters, it basically spells out the F-word,
and then me!"
"This song is no less profane, because Brittany put her message in some lame code.
It is profane.
It's offensive and radio stations should play it, if at all, only during the hours that
children are not listening.
That's the law!"
Of course, any publicity is good publicity.
In response to Kelly's criticism, Britney's video for the song begins and ends with a
parody of the anchor:
"If you seek Amy—doesn't make any sense, does it?"
And it didn't stop there.
After the video dropped, Kelly went back behind her desk and challenged Spears to come onto
her program, saying,
"Bring it, Britney!"
Her first baby
Maybe her takedown of Britney had something to do with Megyn Kelly's mama bear instincts
kicking in.
On September 25, 2009, Kelly delivered her first child, Edward Yates Brunt, with her
second husband, Douglas Brunt.
Just a few months later she attended the premiere of It's Complicated at the Paris Theatre in
New York.
Despite being just two months postpartum, she wore a form fitting and skin baring black
gown with a black sequined collar.
The dress was one of the first among many to come that also showed off Kelly's fabulously
toned arms and showed women everywhere that there is style after baby.
The Megyn Kelly moment
On April 15, 2011, Megyn and Douglas welcomed their second baby, Yardley Evans Brunt.
This time, she took a longer maternity leave than with her first baby and radio personality
Mike Gallagher criticized her for it:
"Megyn's still on maternity leave, right?"
"You complaining?
She's bonding with her baby."
"What a racket that is."
Never one to shy away from a fight — or good ratings — Kelly had a few choice words
for Gallagher when she brought him on her show that August.
She not only defended maternity and paternity leave, she explained:
"The United States is the only advanced country that doesn't require paid leave."
She finished the segment by asking Gallagher:
"What is it about getting pregnant and carrying a baby for nine months that you don't think
deserves a few months off so bonding and recovery can take place?"
Kelly has since become known for calling people out on what they say and asking direct and
difficult questions, in what The New York Times has dubbed the "Megyn Kelly Moment."
Thick skin
While Kelly was praised by many for taking on Mike Gallagher and his comments about maternity
leave, not everyone was so impressed.
Jon Stewart criticized Kelly in segment on The Daily Show calling her a hypocrite based
on her changed views on maternity leave.
"She used to hate entitlement programs.
I just had a baby and just found out maternity leave strengthens society, but since I still
have a job, unemployment benefits are clearly socialism."
In 2015 she told Variety that she wept after seeing the segment, but she's since grown
a thicker skin:
"When you're young and just starting, you think, 'Oh gosh, how much power does he have?
Is he going to hurt me?'
Frankly, I really no longer listen to Jon Stewart.
I think we've stood the test of time."
Rocking into color
In June 2013, while eight months pregnant with her third child, Kelly interviewed singer
Kid Rock about his price cap on concert tickets and politics.
With a bit more of a plunge into the color spectrum and away from her previously-usual
neutrals, Kelly stuck with her tendency to only bear her arms while at non-network events
in a half sleeve purple top.
Of course, there was still some bling to be seen.
Kelly's thick, studded bangles were the perfect complement to her otherwise demure outfit.
To say the pregnant Kelly was glowing would be an understatement.
Just a month later on July 23, Kelly and her husband welcomed their third child, Thatcher
Bray Brunt.
Calling Hillary Clinton...
Attending the Hollywood Reporter's 35 Most Powerful People in Media celebration in 2015,
Kelly pushed the envelope by opting for a black romper with a plunging neckline, a bold
gold bracelet, and her go-to gold dangle earrings.
She also sported much longer hair and the beginning of a bolder, smokier eye with respect
to her makeup.
She also told The Hollywood Reporter that Hillary Clinton is her most-wanted interview
subject.
And after the results of the 2016 election, the former secretary of state might just have
enough time now to make that interview happen...
Basic black dress
When Kelly moderated the first 2015 Republican presidential debate, she garnered the attention
of women and men everywhere.
Despite her show-stopping earrings and form fitting black dress, it was her hard-hitting
questions for the candidates — particularly for Donald Trump — that made people stop
and ask themselves, "Who is this woman?"
While having already been identified as a powerful force in media, it was her performance
in this now-iconic black dress that shifted many people's perception of her as a reporter.
Short hair don't care
Returning for the January 2016 Republican Presidential debate, Kelly debuted a brand
new, super-short hair style that spoke volumes paired with her black blazer and bold earrings.
She was all-business and didn't care who knew it.
With laser focus, Kelly continued to ask the hard questions, even without Donald Trump
in attendance.
Who has time to deal with long hair when you're busy running the show?
Not Megyn Kelly, that's for sure.
More Megyn, please
Megyn Kelly has transformed before our very eyes.
She has taught us that being bold doesn't mean you can't be understated.
She may not consider herself a feminist, but Kelly's advocacy for other women at Fox and
standing up to Donald Trump has paved the way for women everywhere to wear, say, and
do what makes them feel comfortable, powerful, and sexy.
One thing is for certain: through the years, Megyn Kelly has shown us that everything is
better when you ask the hard questions and show off a little bit of bling.
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