Megyn Kelly dismissed CBS News’ efforts to reignite interest in its evening newscast, declaring legacy media “dead” as she escalated her feud with the network’s editor in chief Bari Weiss.
“Nothing will happen at CBS,” Kelly declared on X, responding to a post about incoming “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil.
“Nothing. Legacy media is dead and evening news has been totally irrelevant for a long time. CBS has not had evening viewers in any competitive way in more than a decade,” the ex-Fox News host added. “It’s not reversible.”
The blunt assessment came ahead of Dokoupil’s Monday night debut anchoring CBS News’ flagship show.
He’s pledged to rebuild trust with viewers as Weiss has taken controversial steps to shake up the network since becoming head honcho in October.
Dokoupil has echoed long-standing conservative critiques of the press, acknowledging that newsrooms have often missed the mark by privileging elites over ordinary Americans.
“On too many stories, the press missed the story,” Dokoupil said Thursday, arguing that the media relied too heavily on advocates and academics rather than viewers themselves.
He promised that under his watch, “you come first. Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS.”
Kelly was unmoved, dismissing the entire effort as futile and framing CBS’ struggles as symptomatic of a broader collapse in legacy media.
Her comments also marked a sharp break from her previous praise of Weiss, whose appointment she once applauded as a potential course correction for the network.
That alliance publicly fractured after Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest last month, where Ben Shapiro blasted fellow conservatives for tolerating conspiracy theories and singled out Kelly by name.
He accused Kelly of refusing to condemn claims pushed by Candace Owens following the killing of Turning Point co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Weiss went on to publish Shapiro’s speech in full on her website the Free Press under the headline “Only Cowards Tolerate Conspiracy Theorists.”
Kelly responded by hurling Weiss’ own language back at her.
“I was reliably informed this week that it is cowardly not to call out your friends with the unvarnished truth about their defects,” Kelly wrote on X.
“So my days of being a polite friend (to her) are over. And there’s more truth coming.”
The clash has since widened into a broader fight over Israel, antisemitism and who gets to police acceptable discourse on the right — with Kelly accusing Weiss and Shapiro of enforcing ideological conformity, and Weiss’ allies accusing Kelly of indulging in dangerous rhetoric.
The Post has sought comment from Kelly, Weiss, Dokoupil and CBS News.
