Bill O’Reilly won’t return to Fox News after reports surfaced that five women had been paid millions of dollars to remain silent about harassment allegation and inappropriate behavior. O’Reilly was supposed to return this coming Monday, but will naturally not do that now that he has been fired after two decades with the network.
The network released a statement on Wednesday that said: “After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.”
The information about O’Reilly’s history of sexual harassment allegation came to light after The New York Times reported earlier this month that the network had paid out a total of 13 million dollars to settle the claims and keep quiet about them. The five women either worked at the network or had appeared as guests. They say that O’Reilly had “a wide range of behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating.”
The news of O’Reilly’s forced departure from the network comes as he is still the network’s, and all of cable news’, most watched anchor. The network has supported O’Reilly through paying his statements, until now, when they seem to have drawn the line.
By firing Bill O’Reilly, Fox News has de-crowned the so-called “King of Cable”.
Someone who has also supported O’Reilly’s recently is President Trump, who commented on The New York Times’ reporting by saying “I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled, because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong. I think he’s a person I know well – he is a good person.” Trump, who himself has been accused of sexual harassment, was criticized and even ridiculed for his statements by comedy shows like Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.
Fox News’ action will remove O’Reilly from the network for good.
