‘Sad’ O’Reilly oozes back as podcaster

FORMER FOX News personality Bill O’Reilly got back in the news game Monday night — making his first public remarks since getting fired over sexual harassment accusations.

The former host of the “The O’Reilly Factor” brought his act to the internet in a free podcast.

“Hey, I missed you guys,” O’Reilly said at the opening of the online segment. The 67-year-old addressed his ouster right away.

“I am sad that I’m not on television anymore. I was very surprised how it all turned out. I can’t say a lot, because there’s much stuff going on right now,” O’Reilly said.

“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. There’s a lot of stuff involved here,” he added.

“Now, I can’t say any more 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,” O’Reilly said, moving on to discuss topics including President Trump’s health care plans.

His 20-minute podcast remarks were his first public comments since his ouster Wednesday. He issued a statement after Fox announced his departure, defending himself against what he called “unfounded claims.”

O’Reilly was fired after reports surfaced of Fox and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, supporting him while they paid sexual harassment settlements totaling $13 million to five women. Dozens of advertisers pulled out of his show. He was paid a reported $25 million upon his exit. EX-FOX NEWS CEO Roger Ailes and senior network execs “tortured” a female host who’d complained about his advances through an elaborate online harassment campaign, a new lawsuit charged Monday.

Andrea Tantaros, who was once a co-host of “The Five,” alleged in Manhattan Federal Court that she was bombarded with insults and creepy messages from fake social media accounts.

She also charges that Ailes — who resigned from his powerful post as Fox News CEO last year amid an ongoing sexual harassment scandal — and current CoPresident Bill Shine ordered henchmen to illegally spy on her using electronic surveillance.

Fox News denied it conducted any electronic surveillance of Tantaros.