Early reviews praise Megyn Kelly's controversial interview with far-right provocateur Alex Jones
Maxwell Tani
NBC anchor Megyn Kelly faced more than a week of withering backlash over her decision to interview Alex Jones, the far-right founder of Infowars.com, the website that has perpetuated conspiracy theories about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
Kelly was uninvited as a guest at a gala hosted by relatives of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Connecticut, which left 20 children dead, and JPMorgan pulled its ads from the broadcast.
But when the piece aired Sunday evening, most of the reviews from a skeptical audience were positive. Observers heaped praise on the fact that Kelly's highly edited piece frequently reminded viewers of Jones' conspiracies about Newtown, the September 11 attacks, and a host of other topics.
"If this had been a '60 Minutes' interview, Jones did enough shuffling to look plenty squirrelly, without delivering what might be called a classic Mike Wallace moment," CNN critic Brian Lowry wrote.
Others, like Washington Post media writer Margaret Sullivan and Matthew Gertz of the left-wing watchdog group Media Matters, said that while Kelly landed blows, Jones would ultimately benefit from some of the network's exposure.
For all the hype that Jones built up to the broadcast, his reaction seemed somewhat subdued considering his previous rants against critics of his work.
On a livestream airing after the broadcast, Jones oscillated between opinions about the segment.
At points, he lamented the editing of the piece, telling viewers they were watching his unedited livestream and urging Kelly to disavow what he said were threats he received on social media during the broadcast. But at other points, he declared victory, popping a bottle of sparkling wine while simultaneously arguing the broadcast was a letdown.
"It was kind of a nothing-burger," Jones said. "Everyone who has texted me says it was nothing."
Though the segment delivered little in terms of new information — Jones had previously been confronted about many of the conspiratorial claims on which he was pressed — Kelly's segment addressed some of the concerns critics expressed leading up to the broadcast.
Despite the public outcry, Kelly's team largely avoided the negative reviews that have plagued other major newscasters who attempted to confront far-right personalities.
Earlier this year, CBS' Scott Pelley attempted to confront pro-Trump provocateur Mike Cernovich over spreading wildly unproven claims about Hillary Clinton's health. But critics panned the interview, arguing that Pelley was clearly unprepared. Cernovich quickly flipped the anchor's claims on their head when Pelley acknowledged that the only information he had about Clinton's health came from the campaign.
