Megyn Kelly and Naomi Osaka spat on Twitter: ‘Guess she’s only tough on the courts’

Megyn Kelly slammed tennis star Naomi Osaka after discovering the self-proclaimed “introvert” has launched a reality show, a Barbie, and posed for multiple magazine covers since pulling out of the French Open and refusing to do press interviews. 

“Poor Naomi Osaka blocked me while taking a shot at me (guess she’s only tough on the courts),” Kelly said in a tweet. “She is apparently arguing that she shot her many covers [before] publicly claiming she was too socially anxious to deal with press. Truth is she just doesn’t like [questions] she can’t control. Admit it.”  

Kelly first responded to a tweet by conservative sports pundit Clay Travis that called out Osaka for doing a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover, launching a reality show, and a barbie while simultaneously claiming she’s too introverted to talk to the media. Megyn responded to Travis’ tweet, telling him not to forget two other magazine covers Osaka has done – one for Vogue Japan and another for Time Magazine. 

“Let’s not forget the cover of (& interview in) Vogue Japan and Time Mag,” Kelly tweeted.

In a now-deleted tweet, Osaka told Kelly that she shot her magazine covers last year before publicizing her anxiety and mental health issues. After choosing to withdraw from the French Open earlier this year, Osaka released a statement saying her “huge waves of anxiety” made it “stressful” to talk to the press. Osaka also added that the tennis press had always been “kind” to her but that she is not a “natural public speaker.”

“Seeing as you’re a journalist I would’ve assumed you would take the time to research what the lead times are for magazines, if you did that, you would’ve found out I shot all of my covers last year,” Osaka said to Kelly. “Instead, your first reaction is to hop on here and spew negativity, do better Megan[sic].”

Osaka was charged $15,000 after withdrawing from the French Open and decided to opt-out of Wimbledon a month later. Osaka says she is uncomfortable with being seen as the “spokesperson” of mental health for athletes in her Time magazine interview. She also admitted that she’s been struggling with depression since 2018.

“I feel uncomfortable being the spokesperson or face of athlete mental health as it’s still so new to me and I don’t have all the answers,” she wrote. “I do hope that people can relate and understand it’s okay to not be okay, and it’s okay to talk about it. There are people who can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel.”

“Ever notice how certain fair and balanced people on here – including myself – so easily trigger the hard left Twitter trolls? It genuinely amuses me how much time they devote to thinking about me. Sorry, not sorry,” Kelly tweeted after coming under fire for her remarks.

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