Next Sunday, I sit down with conservative radio host @RealAlexJones to discuss controversies and conspiracies #SundayNight June 18 on NBC pic.twitter.com/7bVz6Fobf5
@megynkelly
It's been less than 48 hours since NBC dropped its first promo for Megyn Kelly's interview with controversial talk show host Alex Jones, but the backlash has been swift.
Most critics took issue with giving Jones a "platform" for his Sandy Hook conspiracy theory alleging the murders of 20 children were faked by their parents. After parents of the victims called out NBC and Kelly for the interview online, the fallout got worse from there.
Here are the latest developments:
Megyn Kelly Blasted by Mother of Sandy Hook Victim Over Alex Jones Interview
View StoryKelly Booted from Sandy Hook Benefit
The NBC anchor was supposed to host a benefit for Sandy Hook Promise this week in D.C., but the offer was rescinded Monday night.
"Sandy Hook Promise cannot support the decision by Megyn or NBC to give any form of voice or platform to Alex Jones and have asked Megyn Kelly to step down as our Promise Champion Gala host," the organization's co-founder and mother to one of the victims said in a statement. "It is our hope that Megyn and NBC reconsider and not broadcast this interview."
Megyn Kelly Blasted by Mother of Sandy Hook Victim Over Alex Jones Interview
View StoryOne Advertiser Jumps Ship
According to The Wall Street Journal, J.P. Morgan Chase pulled its TV and digital ads from Kelly's show and all NBC news programming until after Sunday's episode airs.
The company's chief marketing officer, Kristin Lemkau, called out Kelly on Twitter earlier in the day.
As an advertiser, I'm repulsed that @megynkelly would give a second of airtime to someone who says Sandy Hook and Aurora are hoaxes. Why? https://t.co/luwyCwP7Ti
@KLemkau
Even Alex Jones Wants the Interview Canned
Yep, you read that correctly, even Alex Jones doesn't want Megyn Kelly to give Alex Jones a platform.
After seeing the promo for his interview with the anchor, Jones accused Kelly of "misrepresenting my views on Sandy Hook" and asked for NBC to pull the segment. "They had it edited where it sounded like I said nobody [died]… and that's why I'm calling for the piece not to air next Sunday on Father's Day," he said on his show Monday.
"She said that the interview was not going to be about Sandy Hook and the mass shooting there, and it was not going to be about Pizzagate and these other issues that the media always obsesses on and misrepresents what I've said and what I've done," he added.
Late Night Drags Megyn Kelly Over Putin Interview: Tonya Harding of Cable News
View StoryNBC and Kelly Defend Interview
All this being said, NBC and Kelly herself are standing the interview.
"I find Alex Jones's suggestion that Sandy Hook was 'a hoax' as personally revolting as every other rational person does," Kelly said in a statement. "It left me, and many other Americans, asking the very question that prompted this interview: how does Jones, who traffics in these outrageous conspiracy theories, have the respect of the president of the United States and a growing audience of millions?"
"Our goal in sitting down with him was to shine a light — as journalists are supposed to do — on this influential figure, and yes — to discuss the considerable falsehoods he has promoted with near impunity," she added.
"Until you see the full program, in the full context, I wouldn't judge it too much," Liz Cole, the executive producer of "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly," told CNNMoney. "Judge it when you see it. Megyn does a strong interview. We're not just giving him a platform."
"Viewers will see Megyn do a strong interview where she challenges him appropriately... That's the benefit of putting him out there," Cole added. "When someone actually sits down and asks him questions and he has to come up with answers -- there's value to that."