After Sean Hannity bizarrely tried to resurrect his feud with Jimmy Kimmel, Megyn Kelly jumped into the non-existent fray on Hannity’s behalf. I’m sure she never gave it a thought that Hannity might be able to help her get her old Fox job back.

As I wrote in my last post, Hannity interrupted his poutrage over the mention of Barron Trump during Wednesday’s impeachment hearing in order to challenge Kimmel to put up his (presumably verbal) dukes and revive their 2018 feud:

HANNITY: Jimmy, start it. Just start up one more time. I have a lot to bring out. I was just ready, on the verge of unloading it all. … I dare you. Start up again, I will unload like you’ve never seen. I’ve got it all racked up, ready to go.

That was, apparently, music to Kelly’s ears. The Daily Beast explains:

“America’s late night darling @Jimmy Kimmel? Who every Hollywood star cozies up to? The very same stars who then lecture the rest of us on woke culture?” Kelly tweeted sarcastically (at 5:51 a.m!) over a Mediaite story about Hannity’s Thursday night threat to “unload like you’ve never seen” on  the ABC late-night comedian and reignite their nasty bicker-fest over the Fox primetime star’s ardent sycophancy for all things Trump.

“Whatever could he have done??” Kelly continued, then linking to a two-decade-old video of then-Comedy Central star Kimmel in blackface, sending up basketball great Karl Malone.

Of course, Kelly was booted from NBC last year after asking what’s wrong with a white person going in blackface on Halloween. But it's just as offensive, if not more so, to see her suggest she's a victim of a liberal double standard on race. For one thing, Kelly made off with her full $69 million contract. For another, NBC reportedly wanted to be rid of Kelly before the blackface incident; it was merely the straw that broke the camel’s back. She has also repeatedly displayed racial antipathy toward African Americans.

If Kelly doesn’t understand that norms and values have changed in the 20 years since Kimmel’s blackface, maybe she should start calling women “broads” and “dames.” Or better yet, have the courage to show up in blackface on Twitter or Instagram next Halloween if she feels so wrongly vilified.

The Daily Beast also notes that while Kelly happily appeared more than once on Kimmel’s show while she was still at Fox, she soured on him after moving to NBC:

[A]fter she moved to NBC, she went out of her way to criticize Kimmel’s hosting of the Oscars and to blame him for the annual Hollywood gala’s eroding viewership. “I know a lot of people love Jimmy, but he’s openly said he has disdain for Republicans—that they’re stupid—and he doesn’t want them watching his shows if they disagree with any of his opinions,” she opined on her show. “That does not tend to help your ratings."

Whatever Kelly’s feelings about Kimmel, her recent gratuitous swipe no doubt helped refurbish her conservative bona fides that were no doubt tarnished after she jumped ship from Fox to NBC following a series of public clashes with Trump and Roger Ailes. She reportedly wants to return to Fox or right-wing media. Kelly sure looked eager to return to Fox when she visited with Tucker Carlson shortly after Shepard Smith’s abrupt resignation. But she was also reportedly despised at Fox and the network does not seem to want her back.

Coincidentally, Hannity seems to have hiring power at the network. You may recall that when Sebastian Gorka got a contract with Fox, he credited Hannity. Recently, Hannity made news when he urged Bill O’Reilly to return to Fox by saying, “I keep offering you, go back on Fox.” The words suggested Hannity has the ability to make that happen. In the same discussion, Hannity said he wanted O’Reilly to return in order to re-take the top ratings spot and thus relieve himself of “all the crap associated with it.”

Kelly did not tag Hannity in her tweet. So it’s quite possible that going after Kimmel was her only goal. But I can’t help but think that when O’Reilly turned down Hannity’s offer, a part of Kelly wanted to raise her hand and say, “Pick me!”

You can watch Hannity’s attempt to revive his feud with Kimmel below, from the December 5, 2019 Hannity.

(Kelly image via screen grab)