Fox signed star again knowing of harassment case
UNITED STATES: Bill O’reilly, the Fox News commentator forced to resign in April, agreed to a US$32 million (NZ$46M) sexual harassment settlement in January, and the network’s parent knew about the deal when it gave him a new contract the next month, the New York Times reported yesterday.
The previously undisclosed agreement, at least the sixth involving O’reilly or the company related to harassment charges against him, was ‘‘extraordinarily large’’ for such cases, according to the newspaper, which cited two people ‘‘briefed on the matter’’ as its sources.
Twenty-first
Century Fox Inc acknowledged that it had been aware of O’reilly’s settlement with Lis
Wiehl, a former Fox News legal analyst, when it signed a contract extension with The O’reilly Factor host in February.
The Times report was strongly disputed by O’reilly spokesman Mark Fabiani, who called it a malicious smear aimed at harming the conservative talk show host’s career. ‘‘In its latest diatribe against Bill O’reilly, the Times printed leaked information provided by anonymous sources that is out of context, false, defamatory, and obviously designed to embarrass Bill O’reilly and to keep him from competing in the marketplace,’’ Fabiani said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
Wiehl could not be immediately reached for comment. But Fabiani provided Reuters with a copy of what he said was an affidavit from her, saying she had settled her differences with both O’reilly and Fox News, and had no claims against either one of them.
‘‘At the end of 2016, I hired counsel who prepared a draft complaint asserting claims against Bill O’reilly,’’ the notarised document said. ‘‘We have since resolved all of our issues. I would no longer make the allegations contained in the draft complaint.’’
According to the Times, top executives of 21st Century Fox, including Rupert Murdoch and his two sons, Lachlan and James, decided in January to retain O’reilly despite being made aware of the fresh complaints, the Times reported. The next month, the company gave O’reilly a contract extension worth US$25 million a year.
According to ad-tracking firm Kantar Media, The O’reilly Factor brought in US$147.13 million in advertising revenue in 2016.
O’reilly’s exit followed the departure of former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes. He was forced to resign in July after being accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women. - Reuters