Fox News star avoids new bullet
UNITED STATES: Fox News settled a sexual harassment complaint by a former employee against its biggest prime-time star, Bill O’Reilly, and the division’s copresident, Bill Abernethy, it has been revealed.
Former Fox News personality Juliet Huddy claimed in a letter from her lawyers sent last August that her opportunities at the company ended in retaliation for not submitting to sexual advances by O’Reilly that began in 2011. She also said Abernethy had made unwanted advances towards her.
No lawsuit was filed against O’Reilly or Abernethy, who was promoted to his post in August after the letter was received and was signed to a long-term contract following the settlement payment, which was made in September. The agreement was first reported on the website Lawnewz.com.
The settlement shows that the sexual harassment issue continues to shadow Fox News even after the ouster of former chairman Roger Ailes, who was accused of sexual harassment in a lawsuit by former host Gretchen Carlson.
The suit prompted 21st Century Fox to launch an internal investigation into Ailes’s conduct toward Carlson and other women at Fox News, including Megyn Kelly, a popular presenter who recently announced her move to NBC.
The cable news juggernaut settled that lawsuit in September with a US$20 million payment to Carlson. But other women have come forward with allegations, suggesting that sexually inappropriate behaviour had been rooted in the culture of the company.
Huddy received a six-figure monetary settlement from the company in return for agreeing not to file a lawsuit, according to people familiar with the discussions but not authorised to comment.
Fox News denied the claims against O’Reilly and Abernethy.
‘‘Juliet Huddy’s letter of intent to sue contained substantial falsehoods which both men vehemently denied,’’ said a statement from Fox News.
Lawyers for Huddy could not be reached for comment.
O’Reilly, 67, is the top-rated personality in US cable news. His show The O’Reilly Factor is the tent pole for the network’s primetime lineup. His current contract with Fox News expires this year.
Huddy joined Fox News in 1998. She was the co-host of a Fox syndicated talk show that aired on broadcast stations in 2007, and then in 2011 went on to appear regularly in The O’Reilly Factor segments.
Huddy claimed that O’Reilly propositioned her on numerous occasions and tried to kiss her during a visit to his home in Manhasset, New York.
The letter also describes other occasions when O’Reilly allegedly repeatedly attempted to get Huddy to have sex with him.
Huddy claimed that after rebuffing O’Reilly, she was not asked to appear again on his programme, which is so popular it has served as a springboard for other on-air talent at Fox.
She was eventually assigned to a predawn newscast on the local New York Fox TV station WNYW. She remained in that position until last September.
Huddy is the daughter of John Huddy, a former Fox News consultant and close longtime associate of Ailes. She was among a group of Ailes loyalists who were purged from Fox News shortly after his departure.
The incident with Huddy is not the first time Fox News has settled a sexual harassment charge against O’Reilly.
In October 2004, O’Reilly was sued by a former associate producer, Andrea Mackris, who said he initiated phone sex and regularly used lewd language with her at work and in dinner conversations.
O’Reilly countersued and called Mackris’s allegations a ‘‘shakedown’’. A settlement was reached just hours before a scheduled court hearing on evidence in the case, which was said to include tapes of O’Reilly’s lurid phone calls.
- LA Times