Megyn Kelly Dropped as Sandy Hook Gala Host After Alex Jones Interview
UPDATE: Sandy Hook Promise, a leading gun violence prevention organization, released a statement Monday that it has decided to drop Megyn Kelly as its Promise Champions Gala host as a result of her interview with InfoWars host Alex Jones. In the statement, the organization firmly asserts that it “cannot support the decision by Megyn or NBC to give any form of voice or platform to Alex Jones and have asked Megyn Kelly to step down as our Promise Champion Gala host.”
“It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview,” the statement continued. J.P. Morgan Chase will also pull all its local TV and online advertisements from NBC until after the interview has aired as a sign of protest against Jones’ interview, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Jones himself called for Kelly and NBC to pull the interview off the air, tweeting that he feels the veteran TV personality will “misrepresent” his views on Sandy Hook.
I’m calling for @megynkelly to cancel the airing of our interview for misrepresenting my views on Sandy Hook – https://t.co/TfLEPHEYrd
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) June 12, 2017
ORIGINAL STORY: Megyn Kelly came under fire Sunday after NBC News announced her upcoming interview with InfoWars host Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist who has claimed that the Sandy Hook massacre never happened. But the former Fox news personality is standing by her decision to chat with the controversial newsmaker.
“POTUS’s been on & praises @RealAlexJones’ show,” she tweeted Sunday in response to a critic who called the decision to conduct the interview “disappointing.” “He’s giving Infowars a WH press credential. Many don’t know him; our job is 2 shine a light.”
In another tweet, Kelly noted that Jones actually considers himself a libertarian, debunking common perceptions that he is a staunch Republican. “Actually, in our sit-down @RealAlexJones describes self as a libertarian who ‘likes what republicans stand for’ but has issues w/them 2.”
Jones has claimed that the parents of the 20 students murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 were actors and that the deaths of the children were faked as part of a grander government ploy.
Nebula Marquez-Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter, Ana Grace, was among the 20 children killed in the tragic Newtown shootings, told the Associated Press Monday that giving Jones a platform wasn’t just wrong, it was painful.
“Any time you give someone like Alex Jones a platform, their followers will double-down or increase their attack on grieving families,” Marquez-Greene said. “You can’t just put him in a box and say he’s just a character. He’s really hurting people.”
The family of Victoria Soto, a Sandy Hook teacher who was also killed that day, took to Facebook to express their anger over Kelly’s interview.
“Alex and his followers have done nothing but make our lives a living hell for the last 4 1/2 years,” they said in a post to Facebook. “This incessant need for ratings at the cost of the emotional well-being of our family is disgusting and disappointing. You should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing this behavior.”
A man named Matthew Mills approached Soto’s sister at an NYC charity road race last year to angrily claim that the shootings never took place. He was later sentenced to probation. The Soto family says Mills was a follower of Jones.