O’Reilly won new contract after big settlement

Last January, six months after Fox News ousted its chairman amid a sexual harassment scandal, the network’s top-rated host at the time, Bill O’Reilly, struck a $32 million agreement with a longtime network analyst to settle new sexual harassment allegations, according to two people briefed on the matter — an extraordinarily large amount for such cases.

Although the deal has not been previously made public, the network’s parent company, Twenty-First Century Fox, acknowledges it was aware of the woman’s complaints about O’Reilly. They included allegations of repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to her, according to the people briefed on the matter.

It was at least the sixth agreement made by either O’Reilly or the company to settle harassment allegations against him. Despite that record, Twenty-First Century Fox began contract negotiations with O’Reilly, and in February granted him a four-year extension that paid $25 million a year.

Interviews with people familiar with the settlement and documents obtained by The New York Times show how the company tried in vain to contain the second wave of a sexual harassment crisis that burst into public view the previous summer and cost Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and O’Reilly their jobs.

Rupert Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and James, the top executives at Twenty-First Century Fox, made a business calculation in January to stand by O’Reilly despite his most recent harassment dispute.

Their decision came as the company asserted that it had cleaned up the network’s workplace culture. They were determined to hold on to O’Reilly after the departure of another prominent host, Megyn Kelly.

But by April, the Murdochs decided to jettison O’Reilly as some of the settlements became public and posed a significant threat to their business empire.

In a statement, TwentyFirst Century Fox said it was not privy to the amount of the settlement and regarded O’Reilly’s January settlement, which was reached with a 15-year Fox News analyst named Lis Wiehl, as a personal issue between the two of them.

In an interview Wednesday, O’Reilly said there was no merit to any of the allegations against him, adding that he had resolved matters privately because he wanted to protect his children from the publicity.

Lawyers for Wiehl declined to comment.