“Conclave ”Screenwriter Reacts to Megyn Kelly Calling the Film 'Anti-Catholic': 'I Don't Think' So

Note: The following article contains spoilers for Conclave, now streaming on Peacock.

Conclave screenwriter Peter Straughan is reacting to Megyn Kelly recently bashing the film as "anti-Catholic."

After winning best screenplay at the 2025 Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 5, Straughan was asked in the press room at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles about Kelly's post on X earlier that day, where she said she was "disgusted" by "the big exciting twist at the end."

"I haven't seen that," Straughan, 56, told reporters of Kelly's "anti-Catholic" quote specifically, but added, "I don't think the film is anti-Catholic."

"I would quote the whole message of 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," he said.

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Directed by Edward Berger, Conclave is an adaptation of Robert Harris’s 2016 novel of the same name and follows a group of cutthroat cardinals electing a new pope.

The drama, which is getting Oscar buzz and was nominated for six Golden Globes, stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and more.

In her X post, former Fox News host Kelly, 54, wrote that she "made the huge mistake" of watching "the much-celebrated" Conclave. She slammed it as "the most disgusting anti-Catholic film I have seen in a long time."

"Shame on Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci & John Lithgow for starring in it & shame on director Edward Berger (among others)," she continued. " 'Spoiler:' They make THE POPE INTERSEX! This is the big exciting twist at the end. I wish I had known so I wouldn’t have watched it."

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Kelly went on to write that "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."

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

Berger told Yahoo Entertainment in October that he didn't make the film as a "takedown of the Catholic Church." Instead, he “tried to portray … the characters in the movie as humans."

"Humans make mistakes and have problems and are weighed down by their conscience,” the director told the outlet. “That's what I'm embracing, not all the evils of [the Catholic Church], but just trying to understand what humans are."

Disagreement on the subject matter is a "good thing," he added: “In the end, if there were controversy, I never think it’s bad. I invite that. I love that. We’ve lost the ability to argue with each other without fighting each other. And if everyone has a different opinion and a different feeling, that's a good thing."

Conclave is now streaming on Peacock.

Read the original article on People