Megyn Kelly blasts ESPN for honoring transgender swimmer Lia Thomas: ‘Oh hell no!’

Megyn Kelly blasts ESPN for honoring transgender swimmer Lia Thomas: ‘Oh hell no!’

Megyn Kelly blasted ESPN for honoring University of Pennsylvania trans swimmer Lia Thomas as part of its series marking Women’s History Month.

“Oh HELL NO!” the former Fox News primetime star tweeted in response to a video clip showing Thomas, who was born male before transitioning to become a woman, being feted on ESPN.

Kelly echoed the sentiments of former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who tweeted: “Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title.”

“He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman,” Gaines tweeted.

“If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out,” Gaines tweeted, calling the Disney-owned network “spineless.”

Gains was referencing last year’s 500-yard freestyle competition in the NCAA championships which the 6-foot-1 Thomas, a fifth-year senior, won by beating out the runner-up by close to two seconds.

Thomas was a men’s swimmer during the first three years of her collegiate career at UPenn.


Megyn Kelly blasted ESPN for honoring trans swimmer Lia Thomas as part of the network's series celebrating Women's History Month.
Megyn Kelly blasted ESPN for honoring trans swimmer Lia Thomas as part of the network’s series celebrating Women’s History Month.Megyn Kelly

She became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship.

But her dominant performance against other women prompted protests over what many saw as an unfair advantage that she had due to her being born a biological male.

The Post has sought comment from ESPN. Thomas was not immediately available to respond.


Lia Thomas, a swimmer for the women's team at the University of Pennsylvania, spent the first three years of her collegiate career competing as a man.Lia Thomas, a swimmer for the women’s team at the University of Pennsylvania, spent the first three years of her collegiate career competing as a man.AP
Thomas has rebuffed claims that her being born a male gives her a competitive advantage over other women swimmers.Thomas has rebuffed claims that her being born a male gives her a competitive advantage over other women swimmers.Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Thomas was feted by ESPN as part of the network's Women's History Month series.Thomas was feted by ESPN as part of the network’s Women’s History Month series.ESPN

Last month, Gaines, a 23-year-old 12-time All-American and five-time SEC champion swimmer at the University of Kentucky, said that she and other teammates were forced to share a locker room with Thomas, where they were exposed to her “male genitalia.”

“We were not forewarned beforehand that we would be sharing a locker room with Lia,” Gaines said. 

“We did not give our consent, they did not ask for our consent, but in that locker room we turned around and there’s a 6-foot-4 biological man dropping his pants and watching us undress, and we were exposed to male genitalia.”

Last spring, Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth place in a national swimming competition. She blasted her opponent’s “unfair” advantage, saying that Thomas’s height, muscle mass, and heart and lung size gave her a leg up on her competitors.

Thomas has denied that she has an unfair competitive advantage due to her gender of birth.


Kelly's criticism was echoed by Riley Gaines, the University of Kentucky swimming star who has been vocal in her denunciations of the NCAA's decision to allow Thomas to compete in female swim meets.Kelly’s criticism was echoed by Riley Gaines, the University of Kentucky swimming star who has been vocal in her denunciations of the NCAA’s decision to allow Thomas to compete in female swim meets.
Last spring, Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth in a freestyle swim meet.Last spring, Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth in a freestyle swim meet.Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“Trans women are not a threat to women’s sports,” Thomas told “Good Morning America” in May. “Trans people don’t transition for athletics. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves.

“Transitioning to get an advantage is not something that ever factors into our decisions,” she added.