Megyn Kelly defended the possible use of blackface on Halloween, saying that she didn’t see the the big deal if a white person wanted to dress up as a black person on the holiday.
“What is racist?” Kelly asked. “You get in trouble if you’re a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. When I was a kid that was OK as long as you were dressing up as a character.”
In her defense, Kelly cited “Real Housewives” star Luann de Lesseps who darkened her appearance to more accurately portray Diana Ross — she later apologized.
“People said that that was racist,” Kelly continued. “I felt like who doesn’t love Diana Ross? She wants to look like Diana Ross for one day. I don’t know how that got racist on Halloween.”
Kelly made the remarks while hosting her hour of NBC’s “Today” show and was joined by Melissa Rivers, NBC News reporter Jacob Soboroff and ex-first daughter Jenna Bush Hagar.
Rivers — daughter of iconic comedian Joan Rivers — took the position that society needed more political correctness when it comes to Halloween costumes.
“Whatever happened to just manners and polite society?” she said, adding that “normal people” would be expected to know where acceptable lines to cross were.
It’s not the first time Kelly has strayed into contentious racial politics. While hosting her own program on Fox News back in 2013, Kelly famously declared that Santa Claus was “white.”