Ignites feud

Megyn Kelly unwittingly ignites feud between Joe Scarborough and Glenn Beck

By Nick Gass

As Megyn Kelly mulls the future of her career at the network and perhaps beyond, the Fox News personality has at least two warring media voices in her ear this week. Not warring with Kelly, but indirectly, with each other.

On Monday, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough penned an op-ed for The Washington Post, citing the example of Glenn Beck leaving Fox News as a cautionary tale as Kelly considers her next career move.

"Beck began gracing the cover of magazines such as Time and Forbes. And soon enough, the man who saw himself as a latter-day version of Walt Disney was raking in tens of millions of dollars a year, was outpacing competitors on multiple media platforms, and, most important for Beck, was controlling a central place in America’s political and cultural zeitgeist," Scarborough opined.

But Beck was "wrong" to think that he had "outgrown" Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch and News Corp, Scarborough said.

Since his departure from Fox News, Beck "has been largely irrelevant to the 2016 campaign," he continued, noting that Beck's The Blaze venture experienced massive cuts at the end of 2015, "and the media empire Beck imagined creating while sitting comfortably in his Fox News anchor chair never materialized."

"Perhaps Kelly could succeed where Beck has failed," the MSNBC host suggested. "But if I were Kelly’s agent, I would take a long hard look before telling my client to take that leap."

By Thursday morning, Beck had fired back in a lengthy Medium post, his first, attempting to clear the air with his former colleague.

"Judging by your actions during this campaign cycle Megyn, anyone would be able to see that your principles take precedence over your own interests," Beck wrote. "This characteristic is more rare in media than the average person can imagine."

Without naming Scarborough specifically, Beck threw a fair amount of shade his way throughout the post.

"There are far worse places you can be," Beck advised Kelly. "You could do a morning show you don’t own, on a network that no one watches, where your opinion is controlled and dismissed. Imagine how that must feel. Sad."

Kelly has also taken a shot at the ratings of "Morning Joe" in the past. During a contentious interview on "The Kelly File" in 2014, the Fox News host grilled him over his beef with colleague Sean Hannity as he promoted his new book.

“He wants everybody to buy it. And we have so many viewers here at Fox News Channel,” Kelly said. “If you want to see more of Joe you can join his four viewers tomorrow morning."

Things escalated in that sit-down when Kelly joked that even at Fox, Scarborough “still has a blonde woman on the set interrupting you," referring to "Morning Joe" co-anchor Mika Brzezinski. She also made reference to an incident the previous year in which he snapped his fingers at Brzezinski during a debate, saying, “Only if you snap your fingers at me you would have eight instead of 10."

At another point, Beck commented, "Again, I know you didn’t ask for my advice nor do I think you care about what I have to say. It is almost as if I was only using this opportunity to transparently and indirectly address someone or something that had nothing whatsoever to do with you or your career."

"Could you imagine how sad it would be to feel compelled, of your own volition, or by someone else’s, to use a topical story as cover to take shots at someone who your own mother loves?" Beck asked. Scarborough, indeed, tweeted about his mother's admiration for Beck's show in November 2013.