Megyn Kelly has criticized Glenn Close after the actress shared a social media post in which she appeared to take a swipe at Senator JD Vance over resurfaced comments he made about "childless cat ladies."
In July 2021, Vance said the country is run by "childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives." The clip ignited widespread condemnation when it resurfaced last month, shortly after it was announced that Vance was Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate.
Vance also suggested that people's votes should count more if they have children. In a 2021 speech for the conservative organization the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, he said: "You should have more of a power, more of an ability to speak your voice in our democratic republic than people who don't have kids."
"Let's face the consequences and the reality," Vance said at the time. "If you don't have as much of an investment in the future of this country, maybe you shouldn't get nearly the same voice."
In apparent response to the comments, Close—who portrayed Vance's grandmother in the screen adaptation of the Republican's bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy—this week shared a post of herself posing with her cat.
Captioning the post on Instagram, the Dangerous Liaisons star wrote: "Eve would have left a bleeding mouse head in the bed of anyone who criticized any kind of lady with a CAT!"
Conservative commentator Kelly weighed in on the post on Tuesday's installment of her podcast, where she said that Close "is not grateful for any of those opportunities" that came from starring in the film based on Vance's life.
"This is just so gross," Kelly said. "You got all those awards because he told his family story and you played someone who is so important to him. And by the way, the whole point of his stories about her were to show you the importance of the most powerful female in his life, the woman who shaped him more than any other, to whom the whole book is an homage.
"But you can't see through that. You've got to essentially attack him as being a misogynist because of the cat comment. It's absurd."
Vance has previously spoken about his tumultuous upbringing, which was marked by addiction, familial trauma, domestic violence, and generational patterns of abuse. In 2016, he published his bestselling memoir. The book explored the above themes and his childhood in a community experiencing severe economic decline.
Hillbilly Elegy has sold at least 1.6 million copies to date, according to the AP. In 2020 the book was adapted into a film of the same name directed by Ron Howard and released on Netflix. The adaptation earned Close an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. The film also starred Gabriel Basso as Vance and Amy Adams as his mother, Beverly.
Even though some critics praised the film, it was also nominated for three Razzie Awards, which is a mock program that celebrates the worst in cinema. Close was nominated for worst supporting actress.
Continuing her commentary on Close on Tuesday, Kelly opined that Close should have opted to forgo commenting on Vance altogether.
"I just feel like, have the class to say, 'I'm gonna set this one out, you know," the TV personality said. "Of course she's voting Democrat. Nobody thought otherwise... I'm sure she met [Vance]. There's zero chance she did not meet him when she did that movie. Just have the class to sit this particular one [out]. Not every fight requires you to participate."
Former Fox News host Kelly added that she found Close's comment to be "just so nasty."
During the podcast episode, Kelly also took aim at actress Charlize Theron, who landed an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the news personality in the movie Bombshell. The film, which was released in 2019, tells the story of late media mogul Roger Ailes' downfall at Fox News following allegations of sexual misconduct. Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie were among the star-studded cast.
"Charlie Theron and her friends basically cribbed my entire book for that movie Bombshell and she played yours truly," Settle For More author Kelly claimed. "And then on her press tour, she just went on out and kept dumping on me.
"It was like, first of all you stole my book. You stole my very intimate story and you didn't pay me anything—not that it was for sale—and then... you took all this time to play this story. You took absolutely no time to actually get to know me and then you decide to just spend your whole press tour dumping on me. Like what? Hollywood is disgusting. Just take your f****** award and slink away."
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Close, Theron, and the Trump campaign via email for comment.
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