Fox News has reportedly offered anchor Megyn Kelly a compensation package worth over $20 million, according to Vanity Fair.
The magazine cited multiple anonymous sources who confirmed the figure. Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kelly’s contract expires in July. Her show, “The Kelly File,” had the second-highest ratings among cable news shows last year, with an average of 2.3 million viewers. Fox News star Bill O’Reilly’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” which brought in an average of 2.8 million viewers, snagged the top spot.
A salary over $20 million would bring Kelly up to O’Reilly’s level, according to the Wall Street Journal. O’Reilly’s contract also ends next year.
Fox News CEO Rupert Murdoch told the paper last week that he hoped they would come to an agreement “very soon,” but that it’s up to Kelly.
Kelly’s national profile has grown during the presidential campaign. While moderating a Republican primary debate in August, she asked Donald Trump to explain his misogynistic comments, prompting him to exclaim “she had blood coming out of her ... wherever.”
In the past few months, Kelly’s repeatedly pressed the Republican nominee and his surrogates on the conservative network. Earlier this month, she called out Jason Miller, Trump’s senior communications adviser, when he questioned why the multiple women who have accused Trump of sexual assault didn’t speak out sooner.
“They came forward after he said he likes to grab them by the crotch and then denied he’d ever done it,” Kelly responded.
She also reportedly played a role in the ouster of Roger Ailes, former chairman and CEO of Fox News, following his sexual harassment scandal. Kelly told investigators that Ailes made unwanted advances toward her earlier in her career, New York magazine reported.
In April, Kelly told Variety she wasn’t sure if she would stay at Fox after her contract expired.
“I really like my show, and I love my team,” she said. “But you know, there’s a lot of brain damage that comes from the job. There was probably less brain damage when I worked in the afternoon. I was less well known. I had far less conflict in my life.”
For more details on Kelly’s contract negotiations, read the Vanity Fair article here.
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