A simmering rift inside conservative media burst into the open after Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, with Megyn Kelly accusing Ben Shapiro of a personal and professional betrayal that she says stunned her.
According to the New York Post, in an interview with Vanity Fair published Monday, Kelly said she was blindsided when Shapiro used his AmericaFest speech to publicly criticize her by name.
What she believed was a private friendship, she said, unraveled in real time before a national audience.
Kelly said she was “flabbergasted” by Shapiro’s remarks and went further, accusing both Shapiro and Bari Weiss of worsening antisemitism by attempting to shut down debate over Israel.
“They are making antisemites,” Kelly said.
Shapiro ignited the controversy during his address at the conservative conference, where he warned that the movement was “in serious danger” from what he described as “charlatans” and “grifters.” He later singled out Kelly as someone who had, in his view, failed to adequately condemn Candace Owens.
“Friendship with public figures who say or do evil things is not an excuse for silence on the matter,” Shapiro said on stage.
He then added, “The same holds true of Megyn Kelly, a person I consider a friend, characterizing Candace as a young mother and thus shying away from condemning her actions.”
Kelly responded forcefully on her podcast, saying Shapiro’s framing crossed a line.
“He had the nerve to call me a friend right before he called me ‘a despicable coward,’” Kelly told listeners.
“So I don’t think we are friends anymore.”
Owens, who previously departed the Daily Wire following public clashes with Shapiro over Israel, has faced backlash over comments suggesting a conspiracy behind the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
Kelly rejected the idea that she should be pressured into denouncing Owens, arguing that Shapiro was imposing ideological purity tests she associates with the political left.
“I resent that he thinks he’s in a position to decide who must say what to whom and when,” Kelly said on her SiriusXM show.
“I found it kind of funny that Ben thinks he has the power to decide who gets excommunicated from the conservative movement,” she added.
Kelly also took aim at Bari Weiss, who praised Shapiro’s speech on X and published it verbatim on her Free Press site under the headline, “Ben Shapiro: Only Cowards Tolerate Conspiracy Theorists.”
Kelly accused Weiss of inflaming divisions on the right and of using Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, to bolster her own profile in conservative media. She called Weiss’s handling of a recent CBS News town hall “sick” and “disrespectful.”
“I will not be taking lessons from Bari Weiss on how to treat Erika or anyone else,” Kelly said.
Kelly also revealed that Shapiro’s public criticism came just days after she said she had gone out of her way to support him.
“I gave him the most kind introduction I could possibly give him,” she said, claiming she did so because she knew he was “losing subscribers — a lot.”
The episode has exposed sharp fractures within conservative media, turning private disagreements into a very public showdown.
