POPE-ULAR

Megyn Kelly’s Unhinged Rant Denounced by ‘Conclave’ Writer

The conservative pundit not only called the award-winning film “anti-Catholic”—she also spoiled the surprise ending.

Megyn Kelly did not enjoy the new film Conclave about the selection of a fictional pope. And the movie’s screenwriter, who won the Best Screenplay award at Sunday night’s Golden Globes thinks she’s missing the point.

“Just made the huge mistake of watching the much-celebrated ‘Conclave’ & it is the most disgusting anti-Catholic film I have seen in a long time,” Kelly posted on X over the weekend. “Shame on Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci & John Lithgow for starring in it & shame on director Edward Berger (among others).”

Peter Straughan, the British playwright and screenwriter who adapted Robert Harris’ novel of the same name, responded to Kelly’s critique backstage after winning his award Sunday night.

“I don’t think the film is anti-Catholic,” Straughan told reporters, acknowledging that he had not actually seen Kelly’s tweet. “I would quote the whole message, which is about the church always having to the spiritual core, because to me, that is a very central Catholic idea that I was brought up with. I stand by it.”

The former Fox News host-turned-SiriusXM podcaster was brought up as a Catholic and married her first husband in the church in 2001 before getting divorced five years later. The church does not allow remarriage after divorce so Kelly has, she revealed, been trying to have her first marriage annulled–a process meaning that the Vatican declares the marriage did not really exist at all. She described the process, which involves a church court ruling on whether the marriage can be declared void to have caused “a crisis of faith,” in a broadcast last year.

In that same post, Kelly went on to spoil the surprise ending of the film to make her point. So if you haven’t seen Conclave and don’t want the ending ruined for you, be warned.

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“‘Spoiler:’ They make THE POPE INTERSEX! This is the big exciting twist at the end,” Kelly revealed. “I wish I had known so I wouldn’t have watched it. There are almost no redeeming characters in the movie—every cardinal is morally bankrupt/repulsive. The only exception of course is the intersex pope (who—surprise!—has female reproductive parts) & the cardinal who keeps her secret—bc of course that kind of Catholic secret-keeping must be lionized.”

“I’m disgusted. What a thing to release to streaming just in time for Christmas,” Kelly complained. “They would never do this to Muslims, but Christians/Catholics are always fair game to mock/belittle/smear.”

SPOILER ALERT!

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