Popular Fox News host Megyn Kelly will be leaving the network for a new gig with NBC News, the NBCUniversal News Group confirmed Tuesday.
"Megyn is an exceptional journalist and news anchor who has had an extraordinary career," NBCUniversal News Group chairman Andrew Lack said in a news release. "She's demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and we're lucky to have her."
Friday will be Kelly's last day with Fox News, according to the network. Her contract with Fox News was set to expire next summer. The network did not announce her replacement.
In a statement posted on her Facebook page, Kelly wrote that she was "incredibly enriched for the experiences" she had at Fox News.
"While I will greatly miss my colleagues at Fox, I am delighted to be joining the NBC News family and taking on a new challenge," she wrote. "I remain deeply grateful to Fox News, to Rupert, Lachlan and James Murdoch, and especially to all of the FNC viewers, who have taught me so much about what really matters."
Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, thanked Kelly for her years with the network in a statement.
"We hope she enjoys tremendous success in her career and wish her and her family all the best," he said.
The move was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. Citing unidentified sources briefed on the negotiations, The Times reported that Lack offered Kelly "a triple role in which she will host her own daytime news and discussion program, anchor an in-depth Sunday night news show and take regular part in the network's special political programming and other big-event coverage."
The network confirmed that Kelly will anchor a new hourlong daytime program Monday through Friday and a new Sunday evening news magazine show. She will also contribute to breaking news, political and special events coverage.
Details on the upcoming programs have not been announced, but NBC said additional information will be shared "in the coming months."
The switch leaves Fox News without its second-most-watched host, according to The Associated Press. Kelly's viewership is surpassed by only Bill O'Reilly.
Kelly joined Fox News in 2004 and most recently anchored "The Kelly File," one of the most consistently popular cable news shows.
Kelly played a behind-the-scenes role in the ouster last summer of Fox News founder Richard Ailes, who was accused of sexual harassment, according to The AP.
Kelly was targeted by Donald Trump during the race to the White House after he claimed that she "bombed" after a contentious back-and-forth between the two during the first Republican presidential debate.
"There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever," Trump told CNN.
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