Megyn Kelly Gets Dragged for Making Robert Downey Jr. Blackface Comparison

Megyn Kelly got major push back from social media on Thursday after she compared what she felt were unequal reactions to her Blackface scandal and Robert Downey Jr.'s role in "Tropic Thunder."

The former news anchor took to Twitter to bring up how she was let go from "The Today Show" for defending the use of Blackface on Halloween, comparing it to Downey's turn as a white method actor who underwent "pigmentation alteration" to play a person of color in the 2008 film.

The "Iron Man" star had opened up about the role earlier in the week on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, saying, "In my defense, 'Tropic Thunder' is about how wrong [blackface] is, so I take exception."

In response, Kelly posted, "R. Downey Jr: wears blackface for Universal w/o regret bc it 'sparked a necessary convo.' Univer.: yay Robert!👏🏻 Me: Never worn blackface but had one of those 'necessary convos' re how standard seems to have changed over time. NBC-Univer: F.U.! Cancelled!"

It should be noted that while "Today" does air on an NBCUniversal network, DreamWorks and Paramount produced and distributed "Tropic Thunder."

Her name began trending as Twitter blew up with some calling Kelly's incident a case of privileged misunderstanding, while also saying Downey's role was an indictment on Hollywood which should be viewed as satire.

"The Black face was satirical. Very specifically making fun of Hollywood actors who go to extremes, berate cast and crew, and are viewed as heroes despite being vile humans. Gotta watch for context, Megyn. Be a critical thinker," wrote one Twitter user.

Another fan who took umbrage with Kelly shared, "Did you see Tropic Thunder? His character was a parody of an idiotic, egomaniacal actor who thought he was making some kind of deep point. In other words, his character was a parody of people like you.'"

"Community" actress Yvette Nicole Brown let her thoughts be known as she wrote, "This privileged twit still doesn't get it. She will NEVER get it. Can someone tell @megynkelly that her 'confusion' as to why blackface is problematic expressed on the @NBC show she did not earn nor deserved was not a #NecessaryConversation? #ThisHorribleChick #FixItJesus."

But Kelly had supporters as well, as one follower posted, "But God forbid a white kid wants to wear a Disney 'Maui' costume from the 'Moana' cartoon for Halloween! That's cultural appropriation! (Disney pulled the costume after a complaint)."

"NBCUniversal did you dirty. The way you were treated was absolutely disgraceful. Excited to see what you do next," shared another fan.

In 2018, Kelly was let go from the NBC talk show just days after she asked a guest, "But what is racist? You truly do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person who puts on white face."

"Back when I was a kid that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character," she added. When that conversation made headlines, similar incidents from her past at Fox News were also brought up -- like the time she slammed an article which suggested Santa shouldn't be white anymore.

"This is so ridiculous. Santa just is white. Jesus was a white man, too. He was a historical figure, that's a verifiable fact, as is Santa," she said at the time.

Meanwhile, Downey discussed how he ended up taking the controversial role in the Ben Stiller-directed "Tropic Thunder" on Joe Rogan's podcast.

"When Ben called and said, 'Hey I'm doing this thing' and, you know, I think Sean Penn had passed on it or something. Possibly wisely. And I thought, 'Yeah, I'll do that' -- and then I started thinking, 'This is a terrible idea, wait a minute,'" Downey recalled.

"And then I thought, 'Well hold on dude, get real here, where is your heart?' And my heart is -- I get to be black for a summer in my mind, so there's something in it for me," he continued. "The other thing is, I get to hold up to nature the insane, self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they're allowed to do on occasion. Just my opinion."

He also noted how his Black friends responded to the depiction.

"90 percent of my black friends were like, 'Dude, that was great.' I can't disagree with [the other 10 percent], but I know where my heart lies," he added.