Megyn Kelly accused of trying to deflect attention from Epstein comment with latest trans attack

Right-wing pundit Megyn Kelly has been accused of trying to distract from her recent controversial comment about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by launching an attack on Black trans filmmaker Giselle Byrd.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey appointed Giselle Byrd, a Black transgender woman and executive director of The Theater Offensive, to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW), an appointment that, in turn, caught the attention of notorious anti-LGBTQ+ X account Libs of TikTok.

On 16 November, Libs of TikTok tweeted a photograph of Giselle Byrd with the caption: “UNREAL. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) appointed Giselle Byrd, a man pretending to be a woman, to the ‘Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women’ which advises on policy to improve opportunities for women. You cannot make this up.”

Megyn Kelly then quote-tweeted the post by Libs of TikTok, adding her two cents and writing: “Men make the best women, we all know that.”

However, if she expected her usual, vehemently anti-trans fan base to celebrate her comment, she may have been disappointed when she instead was faced with repeated references to Jeffrey Epstein, and Kelly’s recent, much-criticised comment about his victims.

On Thursday’s edition of her SiriusXM show, after the House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 emails sent to and from Epstein, she appeared to question whether Epstein really was a paedophile.

“He was into the barely-legal type,” Kelly said. “Like, he liked 15-year-old girls. And I realize this is disgusting. I’m definitely not trying to make an excuse for this. I’m just giving you facts, that he wasn’t into, like, eight-year-olds.”

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. He died in jail in 2019 awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide although his lawyers have disputed that, leading to a number of conspiracy theories.

Kelly’s comments sparked immediate backlash, and the majority of replies under her X post about Giselle Byrd suggest that Kelly is only targeting the trans activist in a bid to deflect attention from the controversy.

One of the top comments under her post about Giselle Byrd, written by Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was murdered in the Parkland school shooting, reads: “Are you still justifying the sexual abuse of 15 year old girls but not 5 year old girls? Asking for all who are over your bullshit.”

Are you still justifying the sexual abuse of 15 year old girls but not 5 year old girls? Asking for all who are over your bullshit.

— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) November 16, 2025

Another comment reads: “You are the last person who gets to speak on women’s issues when you admitted you think Epstein’s pedophilia wasn’t pedophila. 15 is a child. Trans women are women.”

Giselle Byrd’s appointment to MCSW

Byrd was appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women in August, along with Candace Pérez. They were both appointees of Gov. Maura Healey, the first openly lesbian governor in US history.

BusinessWest.com reports that she is the executive director of the Theater Offensive in Boston, making her the first Black trans woman to lead a regional theatre company in the U.S. She was also the first transgender woman to be accepted into Through Her Lens: the Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program and is the creator of the autobiographical documentary film, Giselle’s Story, directed by Susan O’Brien.

PinkNews has reached out to Megyn Kelly for comment.

MCSW condemns ‘transphobic and racist’ attacks on Giselle Byrd

UPDATE: the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women has issued the following statement in support of Giselle Byrd:

“Over the weekend, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW), an independent state agency committed to advancing the rights and equal opportunities for all women and girls in the Commonwealth, and specifically one of our Commissioners, Giselle Byrd, was the subject of a particularly vicious online attack that incited hateful language and violent rhetoric against one of our own.

“We stand in outrage with our fellow Commissioner Byrd and remain committed to protecting the safety of not only our state and regional commissioners, but of every marginalized individual threatened by violence both online and in person.

“On November 14, 2025, an article with the headline “Massachusetts Governor appoints male trans person to women’s commission” was published and has since proliferated widely throughout the right-wing media pundit circle. We are first and foremost concerned with the safety of our Commissioner, who has received overt death threats and violent threats against her person as a result of this hateful and factually incorrect article. We condemn violence and threats against women and girls in all forms.

“Commissioner Giselle Byrd is a member of this Commission and we will not stand for any hatred or violence directed at one of our own.

‘Giselle Byrd is a highly respected leader in the Boston Arts community who is committed to the advancement of women,’ said Governor Healey ‘The Commission has a bipartisan history of having LGBT representation, as Governor Baker appointed the first transgender woman to the Commission in 2016,’ said the Governor.

“Here at the MCSW, we stand in full support of Governor Healey’s appointment of Giselle Byrd, a highly-qualified individual with a long history of community activism and leadership.

“Commissioner Byrd is not the first transgender woman to be appointed to this commission. Sara Schnorr was appointed by Governor Charlie Baker in 2016.

“Commissioner Byrd is the first African-American transgender woman to serve and the rhetoric regarding her appointment is both transphobic and racist.

“Our commission exists to protect women and girls, no matter what gender identity they were provided at birth. We have a strong track record of fighting for the women and girls here in Massachusetts, and we have proven that we won’t back down when it comes to codifying anti-discrimination and other protections to laws and policies for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Transphobia, misogyny, and racism are central to this proliferating hate speech that we universally condemn.

“It is the mission of the Commission to advance women and girls toward full equality in all areas of life, promoting rights and opportunities for all. Since our creation in 1998, the Commission has focused on advancing key policy issues that impact all women and girls. First formed by the United Nations, we do not think it is a coincidence – and are particularly struck by the irony – of this hateful attack occurring the day after International Day of Tolerance and during Trans Visibility Week. Our mission statement is clear, to promote fundamental freedoms, basic human rights, and the full enjoyment of life for ALL.

“We have a duty to defend inclusivity. We stand together to say clearly – we will not be threatened or attacked by organizations and individuals with bad intentions that are out there attacking our transgender women and youth. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a long and storied history – more than 250 years – of fighting for basic human rights for all, and as the Commonwealth’s leading agency for women and girls, we will not back down now. Massachusetts is a place where we believe that fundamental human rights are for everyone.

“First, we must acknowledge that the wellbeing of our Commissioner and other members of both our Commission as well as the trans community’s safety is paramount to us.

“Second, we must address the alarming pattern of murders of trans women, particularly of trans women of color, to rail against and speak out forcefully about these killings of a vulnerable population at the intersection of so many marginalized identities. This issue is bigger than just us at this moment – we condemn violence and hate speech in all forms. We will not be a part of that, so we stand here today to say hands off.

“Third, as a campaign of hateful anti-trans legislation continues to sweep the nation, we commit to support the trans community here in the Commonwealth in bringing awareness, stopping the violence intimated
against them, and of codifying their human rights as undisputed law.

“Finally, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women encourages feedback from members of the trans community as to how we can provide better and more robust support going forward, by contacting masscsw.org.”