On Wednesday morning, NBC’s Megyn Kelly started her 9 a.m. ET show the same way her “Today” colleagues did a few hours earlier – with the news that anchor Matt Lauer had been fired after an employee complained about “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.”

After airing a clip of Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb talking about the news, Kelly told her audience that “this one does hit close to home.”

“I, too, have known Matt for a long time,” Kelly said. “And he has been a friend and kind and supportive to me in my transition to NBC News. And I see the anguish on my colleagues’ faces.”

Then Kelly segued to the perspective of the women who speak out – something she has frequently done on her show in the past several weeks, as she covers the new avalanche of sexual harassment scandals.

“When this happens, what we don’t see is the pain on the faces of those who found the courage to come forward. And it is a terrifying thing to do,” she said. “We don’t see the career opportunities women lose because of sexual harassment or the intense stress it causes a woman dealing with it when she comes to work each day. I am thinking of those women this morning and hoping they are OK. The days to come will not be easy.”

Kelly rarely brings up her former employer, Fox News. But last month, the New York Times reported that Bill O’Reilly settled a sexual harassment suit with a Fox News legal analyst for $32 million – this was after O’Reilly had already left the network after reportedly settling sexual harassment allegations with six women. After the Times story, Kelly called out Fox News, O’Reilly and the network’s head of public relations for their treatment of employees who alleged sexual harassment at the company.

On Wednesday, she compared the two situations. “I have been at another news channel where this happened, as you know,” Kelly said. “And my experience is a news organization is bigger than any one person. They all face challenges. They all stumble. But the good ones stay standing and forge forward, fulfilling their core mission: journalism.”

Kelly also noted the bigger picture and promised that her show would continue to cover the Lauer story as it develops.

“We are in the middle of a sea change in this country. An empowerment revolution, in which women, who for years felt they had no choice but to simply deal with being harassed at work, are now starting to picture another reality. To feel that change is within their grasp,” she said.

“As painful as this moment is, for so many here at NBC today, at CBS earlier this month, at Fox News over the last year, in Hollywood this fall, it is a sign of progress – of women finding their voices, their courage and of the erosion of a shameful power imbalance that has been in place for far too long.”