NEW YORK • Talk-show host Megyn Kelly apologised to NBC colleagues on Tuesday after wondering aloud on her morning show why it was inappropriate for white people to dress up in blackface for Halloween.

The episode was the latest flare-up in her bumpy 13-month foray into morning television, which has drawn so-so ratings and occasional criticism.

In the opening minutes of her 9am show Megyn Kelly Today, the host was in a round-table discussion to discuss how "the costume police are cracking down" on Halloween costumes, as Kelly put it.

Several hours after she was widely criticised on social media for her remarks, Kelly sent an apologetic e-mail to her NBC colleagues. She was also one of the top trending topics on Twitter for much of the day.

"I realise now that such behaviour is indeed wrong, and I am sorry," she wrote.

"The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep. I've never been a 'PC' kind of person - but I understand that we do need to be more sensitive in this day and age."

During Kelly's rocky tenure at NBC News, she has offended a celebrity guest (actress Jane Fonda), ruffled network feathers with her coverage of Matt Lauer's #MeToo scandal and sparked ire over a smiling photograph with an interview subject, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Kelly joined NBC after spending more than a decade as an anchor at the Fox News Channel.

NYTIMES