Sexual-harassment allegations cost Fox News show advertisers

Bill O’Reilly’s top-rated Fox News show might be starting to feel a financial sting after allegations that he sexually harassed several women.

Automakers Hyundai, BMW and Mitsubishi, financial firm T. Rowe Price, personal finance site Credit Karma, insurer Allstate, drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, pet food company Ainsworth, men’s shirt seller Untuckit, and online marketing firm Constant Contact said Tuesday that they have joined Mercedes-Benz in pulling their ads from the show.

The moves come after a weekend report in the New York Times that O’Reilly and his employer paid five women $13 million US to settle harassment or other allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fox’s star.

Hyundai said it currently has no ads on The O’Reilly Factor, but it pulled spots on future episodes.

The automaker says it wants to partner with companies and programming that share its values of inclusion and diversity. BMW said it suspended advertising on the show due to the recent allegations, as did T. Rowe Price, Sanofi, Ainsworth and Constant Contact. Allstate said support for women is a company value and it had also suspended advertising on the show.

GlaxoSmithKline said it had “temporarily put a hold” on ads on O’Reilly’s show while it reviews the situation.

O’Reilly is Fox News’ top revenue producer, according to research firm Kantar Media, bringing in over $178 million in ad dollars in 2015 and $118.6 million in the first nine months of 2016. Representatives for Fox News and 21st Century Fox had no immediate comment.