Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News personality who was fired from NBC in 2018 for defending Blackface, chose to once again display her racism by complaining about the “Black National Anthem” being played before Super Bowl LVIII.
Andra Day gave a stunning rendition of “Lift Every Voice And Sing” before the game started on Sunday. That’s when Kelly went to X/Twitter to share her frustration with not only the performance but the fact that the anthem was sung at all.
“The so-called Black National Anthem does not belong at the Super Bowl,” she wrote on X. “We already have a National Anthem and it includes EVERYONE.” It didn’t take long for Kelly to get dragged to hell online, with media powerhouses like Roland Martin and Jemele Hill chiming in on her blatant ignorance and disrespect.
“GET OVER IT @megynkelly. Next year, let’s have a Black man in a Santa Claus outfit. I’m sure your head will explode,” Martin replied. Hill simply retorted to Kelly with a clip from the television show “Martin” which contained the phrase “you stupid.”
Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota cop Derek Chauvin, the NFL started featuring performances of the song before games.
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” was originally a poem by James Weldon Johnson. His brother, James Rosamond, turned it into music. The song was written in 1900 and performed for the first time during a celebration for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The NAACP labeled “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” the “Black National Anthem” in 1919 — over a decade before “The Star-Spangled Banner” was selected as the “official” national anthem.
In addition to defending Blackface as part of Halloween costumes, Kelly has also stated that Santa Claus and Jesus are white (which is what Martin was referring to in his tweet).
She has also questioned whether racist instances of police brutality are actually racist, said the Department of Justice wasn’t prosecuting Black people and is a staunch supporter of All Lives Matter.