Following the recent controversy for trying to boost ratings by interviewing the combustible fake-news Infowars host Alex Jones, NBC’s Megyn Kelly has completely reconfigured her Sunday night show by bringing on the families of Sandy Hook and editing her interview to seem tougher on Jones.
Jones is known for his conspiracy theories, most notably claiming the attacks on September 11 were a government inside job and for claiming the Sandy Hook massacre never actually happened. Kelly invited the families of Sandy Hook on her show so they could underline the pain of people suggesting their children weren't killed during the interview.
Emily Smith of the New York Post’s Page Six writes:
“A source told us, NBC was scrambling to find a way out of this mess without having to back down and cancel Sunday’s episode of Megyn’s show. Megyn and her producers made numerous calls to the Sandy Hook families this week to ask them to appear on the show. Some refused because they didn’t think appearing on her show would do enough to counter Alex Jones’ venom.”
Another source added, “Everyone on the show believes it’s vitally important that the piece conveys the immense pain that Jones has caused the Sandy Hook families.” The source added it was normal to be editing right up until airtime.
Page Six has learned that Neil Heslin, the father of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., has agreed to be interviewed on Kelly’s show. In 2013, he appeared at a Senate committee hearing and pleaded with senators to ban assault weapons such as the gun that killed his son.
There hasn’t been any official comment from Kelly or NBC. According to Jones, he spent 13 hours with Kelly but believes the interview will be edited to make him look “crazy.” He’s threatened to release the entire unedited version of the interview. From the promos that have aired, Jones says he doesn’t want the piece to run because, “Megyn is distorting me,” Jones told The Hollywood Reporter. “It has all the markings of a PR stunt…They just want me to be the devil because I’m the alternative media … Fake news lives at NBC. They basically made me look like a Halloween character.”
Not that it would be hard of course, to make him look like a “Halloween character.” But I guess we will have to wait and see, when Kelly’s interview airs tonight. Or in most cases, wait to hear.
