The Washington Post
Megyn Kelly, Fox News�s brightest star
By Dan Zak, Published: December 11
NEW YORK � The anchor who might beat Bill O�Reilly gets her eyelash extensions applied one at a time, with tweezers and dabs of glue, about 90 minutes before showtime, right after a motorized gun sprays foundation over her face, neck, shoulders, collarbone and sternum, wiping out a galaxy of light freckles that spreads across her �
Let me stop you right there.
Would you write this way about a man?
About O�Reilly himself?
At least that�s what Megyn Kelly might ask at this point. Kelly, 43, is the host of �The Kelly File,� a live TV program that airs weeknights at 9 p.m. on the Fox News Channel, where she interrupts and challenges guests whenever they resort to talking points or petty distractions.
It debuted just over two months ago, and so far its ratings among 25-to-54-year-olds have exceeded those of �The O�Reilly Factor� six times.
In November, her first full month in prime time after years in daytime, Kelly was second only to O�Reilly in the overall ratings, which means she�s the No. 2 person on cable news�s No. 1 channel.
�It�s like working on a supermodel every day � a brilliant supermodel,� says makeup artist Maureen Walsh, as she air-brushes Kelly�s skin from milky white to Technicolor.
The small makeup room is hot from the blow dryer. Pen in hand, Kelly, a former corporate lawyer, reads an article headlined �For Democrats in 2014, the Web site is still the problem,� her eyes zipping over text as Maureen smudges heavy plum-colored eye shadow on her lids.
Kelly asks a nearby hairstylist to dial a phone number. �So you see Greta�s lead?� she says into the phone, her eyes on a muted TV. Greta Van Susteren�s topic is HealthCare.gov, whose botched rollout has coincided with Kelly�s prime-time debut. Later that evening, in the third hour of Fox�s extended prime-time lineup, �The Kelly File� will lead with the headline it has flashed almost every night for the past two weeks: �OBAMACARE FALLOUT.�
In its first 30 seconds the show will quote Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.): �I think the current administration has taken lying to a new level.�
Her in-person guest Andrew Napolitano, Fox�s senior judicial analyst, will ask rhetorically: Could the president�s implementation of the law �lead to impeachment?�
�This law is terrible,� Karl Rove will tell her from Fox�s D.C. bureau. �And it�s going to get worse.�
This is Megyn Kelly, responsibly and aggressively covering the nation�s biggest ongoing news story.
This is Megyn Kelly, hosting a nightly rally for Fox�s anti-Obamacare crusade.
[�]
The story of on-air Megyn Kelly is the story of off-air Megyn Kelly.
End of story.
Start of another: She�s a former head cheerleader with tomboy tendencies. If the world was �Peanuts,� she�d be a Lucy � always the smartest, always in charge, but in a way that�s ultimately endearing.
�Poor Piers,� she says, as if she�s snatched the football away from her CNN competitor. She scrolls through an Excel spreadsheet of Nielsen ratings in her small office on News Corp�s 17th floor early last week. It�s near the close of business in midtown Manhattan, but Kelly�s workday is just beginning and, according to the numbers, she�s eating the competition for breakfast.
�The Kelly File� draws more viewers than Piers Morgan and MSNBC�s Rachel Maddow combined.
�We just do it better,� she says�
�Ten years ago, she had never been on television�
