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Why Jane Fonda Feels Bad For Megyn Kelly After Her Show's Cancellation (Exclusive)

By Alex Ungerman‍ 10:04 PM PDT, November 1, 2018

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Despite their differences, Jane Fonda says she wanted Megyn Kelly to succeed.

The Grace and Frankie star spoke to ET at Thursday night's Women's Media Center Awards in New York City, where she was asked about the recent cancellation of Megyn Kelly Today, following the intense backlash to her on-air defense of blackface in Halloween costumes.

"I feel badly, because, you know, I wanted her to make it, I did," the 80-year-old actress admitted, adding that she still believed that this could be a learning opportunity for the embattled 47-year-old TV personality.

"That's always how everyone learns, through making mistakes," Fonda explained. "It's through failure that we grow and learn. I know that has been true for me, and I think it is for everybody."

Kelly and Fonda traded criticism of each other earlier this year, months after an awkward interview in September 2017 -- the week Kelly's show premiered -- where she asked Fonda about having work done in the past.

"You admit you've had work done, which I think is to your credit, I think you look amazing. Why did you say -- I read that you said you felt you're not proud to admit that you've had work done. Why not?" Kelly asked in the interview, to which Fonda replied, "We really want to talk about that now?"

"It wasn’t like I was upset. I was stunned. It was so inappropriate," Fonda said of the uncomfortable interview question, during a January Q&A with Variety. "It showed that she’s not that good an interviewer."

After the Q&A, Kelly took to her show to defend her line of questioning, noting that she wasn't the first person to ask Fonda about plastic surgery.

"Well, the truth is most older women look nothing like Fonda, who is now 80. And if Fonda really wants to have an honest discussion about older women's cultural face, then her plastic surgery is tough to ignore," Kelly declared on her morning show. "She knows this, and that is why, to her credit, she’s discussed her cosmetic surgery pretty much everywhere before coming on our show."

She added, "Apparently when she came here, however, again to promote her film about aging, I was supposed to discern that this subject was suddenly off-limits."

Watch the video below for more on Kelly's fallout from NBC after her Today show cancellation.