“I cannot believe the ignorance on this in 2018,” responded Padma Lakshmi. “You are on national television. You have a responsibility to educate yourself on social issues.”

Megyn Kelly Today / NBC

Megyn Kelly defended blackface during a discussion on Halloween costumes on her NBC morning show Tuesday.



“But what is racist?” Kelly asked her all-white panel. “Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween.” “Back when I was a kid that was ok, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character,” she said.

Megyn Kelly wonders what the big deal is about blackface

Later in the discussion, Kelly defended a Diana Ross costume from The Real Housewives of New York star Luann de Lesseps that drew backlash last year.



“She dressed as Diana Ross and she made her skin look darker than it really is. And people said that was racist, and I don’t know. I thought, 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,” the host said.



“I have not seen it, but it sounds a little racist to me,” news correspondent Jacob Soboroff responded. “I can’t keep up with the number of people we’re offending just by being normal people,” Kelly said at the end of the discussion.



De Lesseps eventually apologized for her the Diana Ross Halloween costume. “I’m very sorry to everyone out there if I offended anyone,” she said. The star also insisted that she didn’t alter the color of her skin for the costume. “I didn’t. I had bronzer on that I wear normally, like the rest of my skin. I’m tan, like right now. So I didn’t add anything to, or try do ever, ever, ever dream of doing a blackface, ever,” she said. In response to Kelly’s comments Tuesday, many people wondered why the topic of blackface was discussed by an all-white panel.



“And yet again we have white people discussing why blackface is offensive with no black people on panel to explain why white people JUST SHOULDN’T DO IT!” one person said.

@tommyxtopher And, yet again we have white people discussing why blackface is offensive with no black people on panel to explain why white people JUST SHOULDN'T DO IT!

Another person mocked the panel’s diversity using a still from BoJack Horseman.

@tommyxtopher @YesYoureRacist

Someone else responded by referencing comments Kelly made about Santa Claus on her Fox News show roughly five years ago. While discussing a Slate article, “Santa Claus Should Not Be a White Man Anymore,” Kelly said: “For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white.”

@tommyxtopher Says the woman who was offended by Black Santa...

Comedian Kathy Griffin also mocked Kelly.

THE WHITE SANTA JUMPED OUT https://t.co/fO6bPver0k

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi weighed in too, calling Kelly ignorant.

I cannot believe the ignorance on this in 2018. You are on national television. You have a responsibility to educate yourself on social issues @megynkelly. This is so damaging. https://t.co/R7UJzkDDG9 https://t.co/7qFkqGHfGJ

“You make it so difficult to respect you as an informed journalist,” another person said.



Really @megynkelly? You don’t realize how disrespectful & tone deaf blackface is given the history racist caricatures? You make it so difficult to respect you as an informed journalist. 🙄 https://t.co/Z019Cr9Dsd

@tommyxtopher Blackface 👏🏿is👏🏿racism👏🏿end👏🏿of👏🏿story👏🏿. Black👏🏿people👏🏿aren’t👏🏿caricatures.