Harassment cases against TV host Bill O’Reilly pile up
Report claims Fox News paid millions to silence women
Washington – Bill O’Reilly, a star Fox News commentator, has been accused of harassment by at least five women associated with the network, resulting in multimilliondollar payouts, The New York Times reported at the weekend.
It said the company and O’Reilly had paid the five women a total of $13-million in the cases that span 15 years, in exchange for their silence and agreeing not to pursue litigation against Fox News, a favourite among conservatives.
While two of the cases were known, the Times said it had unearthed three more cases of harassment, two of a sexual nature and one alleging verbally abusive behaviour.
The five women either worked for or made appearances on his programme, The O’Reilly Factor, or were staffers on other Fox programmes, according to the Times report.
The women mostly accused O’Reilly of using his powerful position at Fox to pressure them for sexual favours.
The most recent settlement was last year, the Times said.
In a carefully worded statement posted on his website, O’Reilly did not deny any of the allegations, but said his prominence made him “vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity”.
He noted that “in my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the human resources department, even on the anonymous hotline”.
O’Reilly, who is 67, is one of the most prominent faces on American television. The O’Reilly Factor was the mostwatched cable news programme of the first quarter of 2017.
The Times story comes less than a year after Roger Ailes resigned as the Fox News chief executive following accusations from several women that he had sexually harassed them. In November, then Fox anchor Megyn Kelly described similar encounters, which Ailes denied.
Fox News declined to comment beyond O’Reilly’s statement and a statement provided to the New York Times by the network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox.
“21st Century Fox takes matters of workplace behaviour very seriously,” it said.
“We have looked into these matters over the last few months and discussed them with Mr O’Reilly. While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr O’Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility.” –