Megyn Kelly Faces Backlash Over Applegate Illness Remarks and Former Friend’s Claims

WHO:

HuffPost - Megyn Kelly, a SiriusXM host and former Fox News anchor, criticized actress Christina Applegate’s comments about her health.

HuffPost - Janice Dean, a veteran meteorologist with multiple sclerosis (MS), criticized Kelly; Dean said Kelly had once been one of her closest friends.

The Daily Beast - Dean, 56, said Kelly, 55, “doesn’t have any close friends.”

The Daily Beast - Applegate, 51, was misdiagnosed with MS, according to the article.

HuffPost - Dean said she had lived with MS for over 20 years; The Daily Beast said she had battled it for 23 years.

WHAT:

HuffPost - Applegate said on her “MeSsy” podcast that she had recently learned she was misdiagnosed with MS and felt “back at square one” in finding the cause of her ongoing health problems.

HuffPost - Kelly said Applegate spoke about her condition to “garner sympathy,” and claimed she was upset because she could no longer be “the face of this disease.” Kelly said Applegate had made “a cottage industry of talking about her MS.”

The Daily Beast - Kelly said Applegate had “no idea what she actually has” and described celebrities as wanting to “lean into their health problems.”

HuffPost - Dean called Kelly’s remarks “disgusting” and said Applegate was “brave for telling the truth” and had become a voice for many people with MS.

The Daily Beast - Dean said Kelly had secluded herself in Connecticut and that her isolation meant she lacked someone to “check” her views.

HuffPost - Dean said MS is misunderstood, has no cure, can sap a person’s strength, and had taken her job away.

HuffPost - Dean said she wanted to defend people who publicly share their illnesses and raise awareness, but did not want to “fight in the gutter.”

The Daily Beast - Dean said Kelly had attacked Michelle Obama, Cindy Crawford, Shailene Woodley, and Sandra Bullock in recent months.

WHERE:

The Daily Beast - Dean said Kelly lived in Connecticut.

HuffPost - Dean’s remarks were reported in an interview with Page Six; she also posted criticism on X.

WHY:

HuffPost - Dean said she spoke out because she was “sick of” Kelly using her platform to put people down and considered her remarks about Applegate heartless.

The Daily Beast - Dean attributed Kelly’s increasingly extreme views to her isolation and lack of close friends.

HOW:

HuffPost - Kelly made her remarks about Applegate on her SiriusXM show; Dean responded on X and in comments to Page Six.

The Daily Beast - Dean said she left Fox News in July after her MS progressed; HuffPost reported that she left earlier that year because of the progression of her condition.

(UPDATED October 27, 2026 04:11 UTC)

Megyn Kelly criticized Christina Applegate after the actress said she had recently learned she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was still searching for the cause of her health problems. Kelly accused Applegate of discussing her condition to gain sympathy, prompting veteran meteorologist Janice Dean, who has lived with MS for more than 20 years, to call the remarks disgusting and defend Applegate as a brave voice for people with the disease. Dean, who said Kelly was once one of her closest friends, also accused her of putting people down and suggested her isolation in Connecticut left her without close friends to challenge her views.