Megyn Kelly, Jane Doe, and How Not to Have This Conversation
I want to like Megyn Kelly. She's a lawyer, she's quick on her feet, and in 2015 she asked Donald Trump a fair question on a debate stage and paid for it, badly enough that she needed extra security.
Which is what makes her coverage of the Cornell case so strange. Episode after episode, Kelly has gone after Jane Doe's sex life and her looks. In four episodes across two weeks, she kept coming back to the same idea in different words: Jane Doe "gives it up so easily." She said that if Jane Doe's identity came out, she'd name her. Then, on Tucker Carlson's show, she floated getting "a group of us" in the media together to publish the name.
Sarah Schmeiser and I are both criminal defense lawyers, and we spend this episode discussing how Kelly’s coverage is an example of how not to have this conversation: The bullying that Kelly’s platform enables and the cowardice of wanting cover from a crowd. We work through why Kelly may be presenting it this way despite—or maybe because of—what she’s been through personally and professionally. And along the way, we discuss the role of shame and gendered expectations around sex that too often go without saying.
This episode discusses sexual assault.
Chapters
0:00 Cold open
0:25 Why Megyn Kelly?
6:47 The 2015 debate and the backlash
11:54 Bannon, Breitbart, and "cull her out"
17:19 What Kelly says about Jane Doe
20:53 "I am going to name her"
25:06 "Gives it up so easily," in her own words
30:36 Divorce, annulment, and shame
32:39 Kelly on Alex Cooper
38:18 Where Kelly gets it right
39:37 Tucker and "a group of us"
44:10 An anonymous website, mad about her anonymity
45:50 A little empathy, on both sides
47:24 Why I still want to like her
Clips used for commentary and criticism:
- The Megyn Kelly Show (SiriusXM / YouTube), Sept. 30 to Oct. 13, 2026, and June 28, 2024 (with Steve Bannon)
- The Tucker Carlson Show, Oct. 9, 2026
- Shawn Ryan Show #129, Sept. 9, 2024
- Fox News Republican primary debate, Aug. 6, 2015 (via TheBlaze)
- CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, Aug. 7, 2015
- PBS Frontline
