‘Truth will come out,’ ousted O’Reilly vows

Details limited in inaugural podcast by former Fox star

LOS ANGELES — Five days after being fired from his top-rated Fox News Channel perch, Bill O’Reilly used a podcast to express his dismay and vowed that “the truth will come out.”

“I am sad that I’m not on television anymore,” he said in an episode Monday of his personal website’s “No Spin News” podcast, available only to subscribers after this week’s free window. “I was very surprised how it all turned out.”

O’Reilly, who exited Fox News amid sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied, said he couldn’t add much more “because there’s much stuff going on right now.”

“But I can tell you that I’m very confident the truth will come out and when it does, I don’t know if you’re going to be surprised, but I think you’re going to be shaken, as I am,” said O’Reilly, who was Fox’s most popular and most lucrative personality.

He declined to expand on that, he said, “because I just don’t want to influence the flow of the information. I don’t want the media to take what I say and misconstrue it.”

But his listeners have a right to know exactly what happened and “we are working in that direction,” he said.

O’Reilly’s remarks were the first since his exit on Wednesday, which took place while he was away on vacation. He had issued a statement after Fox announced his departure, defending himself against what he called “unfounded claims” and saying he took pride in his 20-plus years with the news channel.

O’Reilly’s firing came after The New York Times reported in early April that five women had received settlements totaling $13 million after they alleged sexual harassment and other mistreatment and dozens of advertisers pulled out of his show. He was paid a reported $25 million upon his exit.

On his podcast, O’Reilly didn’t address speculation that he might land elsewhere in broadcasting or cable, but he discussed briefly how he intended to build his online forum into a “genuine news program.”

On Monday’s roughly 20-minute podcast, he discussed topics including President Donald Trump’s poll numbers. As the program is developed, guests and other elements would be added, he said.

Not long after O’Reilly signed off online, Tucker Carlson’s show moved into the 8 p.m. EDT time slot that had been home to “The O’Reilly Factor.”

Carlson, taking note of the change, said he marveled at the high bar that O’Reilly set and promised to do his best to meet it on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”