Nearly half of Americans say NBC too harsh in canceling 'Megyn Kelly Today' after blackface remarks

A new poll reports that 45 percent of people surveyed believe that NBC acted too harshly in canceling "Megyn Kelly Today" after the host engaged in a discussion about blackface last week.

What's the background?

The poll, which was conducted by The Hollywood Reporter and Morning Consult, was taken several days after NBC host Megyn Kelly made remarks about blackface and Halloween.

During an all-white panel discussion on Oct. 23, Kelly questioned why wearing blackface would be offensive, and that dressing up in blackface was "OK" when she was a child, "as long as you were dressing like a character."

Kelly faced heavy backlash in response to her remarks and issued a company-wide apology that same night.

The following day, Kelly's "Today" co-anchors, Al Roker and Melvin Craig, said that Kelly's initial apology wasn't good enough, and insisted that she apologize to all people of color for her remarks.

Kelly did just that the very same day.

“You may have heard that yesterday we had a discussion here about political correctness and Halloween costumes. And that conversation turned to whether it is ever OK for a person of one race to dress up as another, a black person making their face whiter or a white person making theirs darker, to make a costume complete,” Kelly explained in a portion of her apology. “I defended the idea, saying as long as it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume it seemed OK. Well, I was wrong and I am sorry.”

The next day, she was no longer a part of the production. NBC canceled "Megyn Kelly Today" on Friday.

What did the poll say?

Of the 2,201 adult Americans polled in the survey, 45 percent believed that NBC's decision to cancel the show was "too harsh of a consequence." Twenty-six percent of those polled said that canceling the show was "the appropriate consequence for her comments."

The poll noted that 6 percent of respondents said that Kelly's remarks improved their opinion of her, while 48 percent said that her remarks made "no difference either way."

The poll also noted that 29 percent of respondents had a "somewhat less favorable" or "much less favorable" view of the network after their decision to cancel the show.

You can read more about the poll and its findings here.