Bill O’Reilly On His Fox News Firing: ‘When The Truth Comes Out, People Will Be Shaken, As I Am’
Long-time Fox News analyst Bill O’Reilly was shockingly fired from his position at Fox News after allegations were piling about him sexually harassing numerous females during his time with the company. While many within the company believed that Fox executives were aware of these allegations, the assumption was they were proverbially swept under the rug due to his show, The O’Reilly Factor, garnering more traffic for the company that any other show on the network.
The firestorm commenced after an article from the New York Times revealed how Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, stood by O’Reilly amid multiple allegations. They showed their loyalty to O’Reilly so much that agreements totaling around $13 million were distributed to multiple women so they would remain silent about their alleged encounters. After catching wind of this problem, a significant number of advertisers backed out of O’Reilly’s program, which was a major hit for the company, and 21st Century Fox, as a result, felt like they had no other choice but to let him go.
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Shortly after the firing, O’Reilly sent out a release of his thoughts concerning the matter.
“Over the past 20 years at Fox News, I have been extremely proud to launch and lead one of the most successful news programs in history, which has consistently informed and entertained millions of Americans and significantly contributed to building Fox into the dominant news network in television. It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today. I will always look back on my time at Fox with great pride in the unprecedented success we achieved and with my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers. I wish only the best for Fox News Channel.”
O’Reilly once again commented on his recent podcast about his departure. He stated that he is sad that he is not on television anymore and was surprised how it all turned out. He added that he cannot say a lot, because there is “much stuff going on right now.” However, he did state that he is very confident that the truth will come out, and when it does, people will be “shaken, as I am.” O’Reilly said that he will not share any more because he does not want the media to misconstrue what is shared. Moreover, he stated that his loyal listeners deserve to know what is going on.
CNN’s Kirsten Powers recalled when she worked for Fox as a political analyst and the unsettling behavior that was exhibited to her from him. Powers went to his executive producer after an incident of O’Reilly speaking rudely to her. Instead of being assured that the situation was going to be rectified, she was told that there is nothing that they can do about it because O’Reilly is a “throwback,” comparing him to Archie Bunker.
Kirsten Powers accused Bill O’Reilly of sexism Wednesday, but in 2014 she sang a different tune https://t.co/gOQ2ooXNwT pic.twitter.com/7MAC8V3DCQ
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) April 20, 2017
She once again stated that she wants an apology, and the executive staff stated that she was not going to get an apology. Powers added that former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes informed her that O’Reilly is “a jerk” and “nobody likes him,” as well as his liking to “put up dirty pictures and have pretty girls talk about them.”
For O’Reilly, his biggest financial stream is no longer. However, he is still considered a commodity, as his website and podcast are still in operation. Whether another station picks him up is unknown at the time, but stemming from the severity of these current cases, that may not happen anytime soon.
[Featured Image By Diego Corredor/AP Images]
