CELEBRITY
Megyn Kelly hits out at Jennifer Aniston in explosive rant following ‘childless cat ladies’ criticism
Megyn Kelly has hit out at Jennifer Aniston following her criticism of a hopeful vice presidential candidate, saying she ‘doesn’t give a s**t’ what Aniston thinks.
Kelly, an American commentator, media personality, and host of The Megyn Kelly Show, has launched an attack against the Friends star after the actress got involved in a political conversation last month.
Kelly has suggested that Aniston falsely accused Donald Trump’s proposed vice president, JD Vance, of being against IVF.
In June this year, Vance – a member of the Republican party – voted to block legislation proposed by the Democrats to guarantee access to IVF nationwide.
Aniston criticised Vance for his remarks regarding ‘childless cat ladies.’
In July, comments resurfaced of Vance calling Democrats a ‘bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives’ in 2021.
Aniston took to Instagram to write: “I truly can’t believe that this is coming from a potential VP of the United States.
All I can say is… Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day.
“I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option because you are trying to take that away from her, too.”
Aniston has been vocal throughout the years with her struggles to conceive and attempts at IVF.
But according to Kelly, Aniston cannot stand up for women’s rights… all because she didn’t wage in on the transphobic storm that erupted when Imane Khelif, who is a woman, competed against another woman at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Khelif went on to win gold for her country, Algeria.
During an episode of The Shawn Ryan Show on 9 September, Kelly said: “What has she [Aniston] said about the woman who got her face punched out by the man in the boxing ring? Zero.”
Khelif was falsely accused of being a biological male and subjected to transphobic abuse following her inclusion in the Olympics.
Kelly continued: “What has she said about Payton McNabb, who’s suffering permanent nerve damage and brain damage from getting hit so hard in the face and the head by that volleyball player in North Carolina? Nothing.
“What’s she say about that girl who got all of her teeth knocked out in a field hockey game by a boy pretending to be a girl? Zero.
Kelly is referencing an incident last year at a Massachusetts high school field hockey game. A member of the Dighton-Rehoboth girls team ended up in hospital after she was hit in the mouth by a shot taken by a boy playing for the opposing team.
Kelly concluded: “So I don’t give a s**t what she thinks about JD Vance and childless cat ladies.
“This is the one she comes out on? You don’t want childless cat ladies to be offended? That’s where you’re gonna plant your flag?”
The series, created by Marta Kauffman and David Crane, about a close group of friends living in New York City was an instant success when it premiered in 1994.
Since then, Friends has remained a cult classic, even after coming to an end in 2004.
Despite the sitcom being so popular with many, there has been a lot of criticism throughout the years of the show’s lack of diversity, and now one of the stars has spoken out.
New York is known for its diversity, including its variety of cultures, ethnicities, and races. The population of the city is: 31.2% White (Non-Hispanic), 21% Black or African American (Non-Hispanic), 14.
4% Asian (Non-Hispanic), 14.2% Other (Hispanic), and 6.3% White (Hispanic), as per Date USA.
Yet, in the sitcom based in a city with such a wide range of cultures, all six main characters are white, and people of different races and ethnicities are only featured occasionally in supporting roles.
Aisha Tyler, the first Black actress to have a recurring role in the series, starred in a total of nine episodes. She played Dr. Charlie Wheeler, a paleontology professor who worked alongside and then dated David Schwimmer’s character, Ross.
In a 2020 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Schwimmer said that he felt it was ‘just wrong’ that there was no broader cultural representation on the series.
The actor said: “I really felt like Ross should date other people, women of all races.”
Co-creator Kauffman told The Los Angeles Times that at the time it was ‘difficult and frustrating’ that Friends was being singled out for its lack of diversity.
But, in recent years, she has changed her mind.
Kauffman has since noted that the failure of the sitcom to be more inclusive was down to her internalized systemic racism, which only became clear to her after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the Black Lives Matter movement that followed in 2020.
The co-creator said: “Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”
Kauffman continued: “It was after what happened to George Floyd that I began to wrestle with my having bought into systemic racism in ways I was never aware of.
“That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct.”
Kauffman has since pledged $4 million to the Boston area’s Brandeis University, for a professorship in the school’s African and African American studies department.