Megyn Kelly has faced backlash after questioning why a Cornell University student waited about three weeks to report an alleged gang rape to campus police. During her show, the journalist challenged the woman's account and questioned why she did not immediately contact local police after the alleged October 2024 incident.
Kelly's comments have since drawn criticism from social media users, who pointed to her own experience with alleged sexual harassment by former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. Kelly has said she reported the alleged behaviour to a supervisor when it happened in 2005, but did not publicly disclose the allegations until 2016.
Kelly Questions the Reporting Delay
During The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly discussed the Cornell allegations and also posted a clip of her comments on X.
She questioned whether a person who had been 'violently gang raped repeatedly over the course of an evening' would wait three weeks before contacting police. Kelly also questioned why the woman spoke with friends before going to campus police.
Kelly went further by suggesting the woman's understanding of the night had changed over time. She said the alleged victim's experience had been transformed in her mind 'from a night of regrets that the young woman is ashamed of' into one in which 'she's the victim and the boys are the perpetrators'.
Kelly also quoted what she presented as the woman's perspective, saying: 'I'm not a slut. I'm not easy. I'm not a humiliated, desperate, give-it-up-to-anybody person doing drugs off of a man's penis. That's not me. I was coerced. I'm a victim.'
She added: 'The delay, the chatting with the friends, and the decision to go to campus police says a lot to me.'
.@megynkelly: "If you were violently gang raped repeatedly over the course of an evening, do you think it would take you three weeks to call campus police?... The delay, the chatting with the friends, and the decision to go to campus police says a lot to me." pic.twitter.com/U4PWaxoO0F
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) October 1, 2026
Inside the Cornell Rape Case
The case centres on a woman identified as Jane Doe in court documents. She alleges that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell.
According to reports, the alleged assault took place on 19 October 2024. Doe reported the incident to campus police in November, several weeks later. She has said she was pressured into consuming alcohol, marijuana and ketamine before the alleged assault.
The case did not initially result in criminal charges. Tompkins County District Attorney (DA) Matthew Van Houten later reopened the investigation after renewed scrutiny surrounding Doe's civil lawsuit in September 2026. A transcript of a police interview also showed Doe telling investigators that she was '100% confident' she had been raped, although the DA said he had not previously received that full interview transcript.
Kelly's comments sparked criticism online, with some users accusing her of hypocrisy because of the time between her alleged harassment and her public disclosure of it.
One social media user wrote: 'Hypocrite much? You didn't report your sexual harassment for HOW long?' The critic contrasted Kelly's decade-long public silence with Doe's reporting timeline and questioned why Kelly would scrutinise another alleged survivor's delay.
This is sickening, and doubly so considering what you went through with Roger Ailes. Stop defending r**ists.
— Jun (@jun_julyaugust) October 2, 2026
Hypocrite much? You didn't report your sexual harassment for HOW long? I think a gang rape would be severely more traumatic. And she reported her attack a lot sooner than you reported your harassment. Why did you wait? Concerned about your job? And you wonder why women don't?
— Ingrid Weber (@IngridWeber67) October 4, 2026
Kelly's Past Comes Under Scrutiny
Megyn Kelly has previously spoken publicly about alleged sexual harassment by Roger Ailes, who was her boss at Fox News.
According to Kelly, the alleged behaviour began in 2005, during her early years at the network. She said Ailes repeatedly called her into his office and made sexually inappropriate comments before allegedly making physical advances. Kelly said she rejected his advances and reported the conduct to a supervisor at Fox News.
Kelly did not publicly disclose the allegations at the time. She later described why she remained silent, saying she feared putting her career at risk. In 2016, following Gretchen Carlson's public allegations against Ailes and a wider investigation into Fox News, Kelly disclosed her own experience and included it in her memoir Settle for More.
Kelly has therefore faced criticism over what some social media users see as a contradiction between her treatment of her own alleged harassment and her questions about another woman's reporting timeline.
