The Most Scandalous Outfits Megyn Kelly Has Ever Worn

Being on television and hosting your own video podcast typically means having to look put-together, something that Megyn Kelly has evidently worked at throughout the years. But she's the first to admit that it didn't come naturally to her. "Before I got into TV, I wasn't fashionable at all," the divisive political commentator acknowledged to the Los Angeles Times in 2012. Kelly spent ten years in a law career before joining Fox News in 2004 as a reporter and legal analyst. She gradually moved up the ranks at the network, eventually gaining anchor duties before jumping ship to NBC News in 2017. 

In 2020, she launched her eponymous podcast (complete with accompanying video), "The Megyn Kelly Show," after Kelly vowed never to return to mainstream media again. As she reported on political events, interviewed celebrities, and hung out with her friends, people noticed her wardrobe, which hasn't always followed the conventional route taken by most female journalists. 

Kelly has actively defended her fashion choices, telling The Cut in 2018, "Just because I'm blonde and I have my sexy dress on, doesn't make me a bimbo." It's been more than sexy dresses, though, that have caused a ruckus, with critics chiming in on social media about what they see as controversial outfits and accessories. It's all a case of the news anchor becoming the news.

They were the spaghetti straps seen 'round the world, and boy, did tons of people have opinions about them. While working for Fox News at the Republican National Convention in 2016, Megyn Kelly committed what many considered the ultimate fashion sin: She was a journalist, reporting on-air, showing some skin. It's common for female reporters — and male ones, too — to wear suit jackets and other more businesslike apparel in an effort to be taken more seriously while covering such events. Kelly, however, donned a little blue dress, complete with thin straps and a low neckline. 

As one person on X, formerly known as Twitter, summed up, "Does Megyn Kelly have a pool party she needs to rush to after her convention report tonite [sic]? Her outfit suggests yes." That person was Stuart Emmrich, who was The New York Times Styles Editor at the time. Another X user harped, "Very inappropriate bare shoulders dress at RNC convention. Business meeting & you look sleazy." In a subsequent interview with the New York Times, Kelly defended the chic Ralph Lauren number, reasoning simply, "It was a lovely dress." As she asserted, "I can be smart and challenging while I wear spaghetti straps, and everyone is just going to have to get their heads around that."

Shania Twain broke into the Billboard Hot 100 chart with her hit country song, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman," and Megyn Kelly broke the "Today" show when she dressed up like the singer for the 2017 Halloween episode of the morning show. Twain famously wore a top hat, black bustier, and knee-high boots in the music video for the 1999 smash hit, a look that Kelly diligently copied. All the on-air hosts of the morning program chose a country singer to imitate, but while Hoda Kotb went with fake scruff and flannel as Blake Shelton, Kelly's outfit was decidedly more sexy — and according to some, pretty cringe-worthy.

Along with the outfit, the former Fox News stalwart did a lip-sync to Twain's iconic song, including copying her dance moves from the video. As one person on X joked, "Celebrating Halloween with some scary viewing: Megyn Kelly on the Today show. Cringeing [sic] along," while another confessed, "I had to look away!!! I was embarrassed." While many agreed that Kelly's Twain imitation didn't impress them much, the woman herself didn't seem overly fond of the situation either. When another host asked how she was feeling for her very first "Today" show Hallloween, Kelly replied, "Every shred of my dignity is gone."

Although she's spent a large portion of her on-camera career sitting behind a desk, there have been plenty of opportunities for viewers to get to see Megyn Kelly's entire wardrobe ensemble, shoes included. And she does seem to be a fan of high heels, regularly sporting designer shoes when the TV personality steps out for appearances or other glitzy events. The Women in the World Summit was one such occasion. As Kelly clarified to the Los Angeles Times, her fashion policy dictates, "If you're wearing a pair of shoes that's a little flashy, then it's important not to be flashy up top and vice versa." 

But she apparently forgot her own motto while attending the summit in April 2016. Kelly took to the stage in a low, V-neck blue dress with a center cut-out — a modern and sleek silhouette that also showed off plenty of leg and, most notably, a rather saucy pair of black leather heels. As flashy as, or even more so, than her dress the stiletto shoes were a $1,200 pair of strappy Valentinos. Not everyone was a fan, though. As one unimpressed viewer somewhat harshly proclaimed in the YouTube comments, "Kind of hard for me to respect Megyn when she shows-up to do an interview wearing stripper shoes." 

In 2023, Megyn Kelly began proudly wearing a hat that she purchased online. Playing off Donald Trump's infamous "Make American Great Again" slogan, the podcaster's version read: "Make Women Female Again." She debuted the offensive headwear during a girls' trip to Miami to celebrate a friend's birthday, donning it poolside as an accessory with her black swimsuit and dark shades. Kelly posted a photo to Instagram, and earned over 50,000 likes and thousands of comments, primarily talking about the baseball cap — some in favor, others not so much. "Your hat is on point," wrote one fan, while another commented, "Where can we buy that hat!!! I will support real women all day long!!"  

On the other side of the fence, many were shocked, considering it a declaration, with one person admitting, "I didn't know Megyn Kelly was anti-LGBTQ. Wow." The controversial celebrity dedicated some time to her red cap on an episode of "The Megyn Kelly Show," shortly after dropping the pic, and after her wardrobe choice was publicized by other outlets too. Kelly declared that she didn't care what other people thought, bragging, "I am trans-exclusionary when it comes to women's bathrooms, and women's lockers, and women's swimming lanes in sports, and places that are supposed to belong to women, because trans women are not women. They're men," and confirming, "I'm gonna wear the hat." The former Fox News host has kept her promise too, many times over.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis went after Donald Trump when she headed up an investigation tackling election interference during the 2020 presidential race. The results culminated in Trump and a handful of other people being indicted in the state of Georgia. The case dragged on for several years, and in March 2024, Willis herself was the subject of a hearing, which questioned whether there was impropriety present in her investigation and the resulting charges. The DA's inquiry was of great interest to Megyn Kelly, who devoted numerous episodes of "The Megyn Kelly Show" to the ordeal.

In fact, she was so fascinated that the podcast host brought her work on vacation with her, all the way to the Bahamas. In a post on Instagram, Kelly was seen wearing a pair of baggy, white cotton overalls along with a set of thick black headphones. She captioned it: "On a trampoline in the Bahamas two weeks ago listening to the Fani Willis hearing. This is not a bad way to work."

Fans had plenty to say about not only the Willis case, but the former Fox News host's state of dress. "Not liking your jumpsuit but love this case," wrote one. Another commenter was a bit more blunt, asking, "Why are you dressed like an ugly potato sack?" A few people liked the laid-back vibe, inquiring where she got the overalls — and one fan provided a cheeky answer: "Paint store."