Megyn Kelly blasts Ben Shapiro over Piers Morgan attack, says he ‘became a star on my show’

Kelly defended Morgan’s show and criticized Shapiro for repeatedly clashing with conservative commentators in recent years
PUBLISHED MAR 12, 2026
Megyn Kelly said she had known Ben Shapiro for years and credited herself with helping boost his early media profile (@RedWavePress/X, @MulukenHakim/X, @Trillion0x/X)
Megyn Kelly said she had known Ben Shapiro for years and credited herself with helping boost his early media profile (@RedWavePress/X, @MulukenHakim/X, @Trillion0x/X)

WASHINGTON, DC: Megyn Kelly didn’t hold back when she called out Ben Shapiro for going after Piers Morgan. She said she’s genuinely disappointed with how Shapiro has started criticizing other media personalities lately.

On her show, Kelly mentioned she’s known Shapiro for years and said she even helped him get his start in the media world, recalling that he became widely recognized after appearing on her former Fox News program.

Kelly defends Piers Morgan’s show

Kelly argued there was no reason for Shapiro to criticize Morgan’s show or attempt to police who appears as a guest.



“It's very sad to me as somebody who's known Ben forever and helped make Ben 100 percent. He became a star on my show, ‘The Kelly File’.”

“I'm very sorry to see this happen. And like there is absolutely no cause to run around policing the guests on somebody else's show and trying to diminish somebody who is interesting, but and I mean this complimentary benign as Piers Morgan.”

Kelly said she does not view Morgan as a harmful voice in media and described his program as an engaging platform for interviews and debate.

“Piers is not a pernicious force,” she said. “Piers is an interesting guy who’s got an interesting show. Maybe it’s for you, maybe it’s not.”

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 25: Piers Morgan attends the 2019 British Academy Britannia Awar
Piers Morgan attended the 2019 British Academy Britannia Awards (Getty Images)

Kelly questions criticism of conservative figures

In the segment, Kelly rattled off a few well-known commentators who’ve clashed with Shapiro or taken heat from him lately.

“So obviously, in Ben's view, Tucker had to go, clearly, even though he helped build Candace; she had to go. Then I had to, even though I've had a 15-year friendship with a guy who publicly attacked me.”

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 21:  Ben Shapiro speaks onstage during Politicon 2018 at Los Angeles Conve
Kelly said she and Shapiro had been friends for about 15 years before he publicly criticized her (Getty Images)

She talked about her own history with Shapiro, too. They’d been friends for around 15 years before he called her out publicly.

“Same thing, not even a text in advance, even though we had a text like literally four months or four weeks earlier saying no matter what, who we're friends with, because he was mad I was friends with Tucker.”

“Our friendship means more to us than anything. And we won't do anything to F it up. Next thing I know, I get attacked by him on stage at Turning Point.”

“Now Piers Morgan, like how many people have to truly, how many people must be culled from the conservative movement in order to make Ben happy? This is ridiculous. And it's not just Ben. All right.”

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA - OCTOBER 02:  Megyn Kelly speaks onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summi
Megyn Kelly spoke onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit (Getty Images)

Kelly also expressed support for Morgan amid the dispute, saying she believes he was justified in responding to the criticism.

“So good for Piers Morgan for fighting back,” Kelly said.

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