Fired from Fox News April 19 for mounting sexual harassment claims, 67-year-old Bill O’Reilly defended the allegations but, in the end, too many advertisers dropped out, hitting Fox News’ bottom line. All of O’Reilly’s denials fell on deaf ears as Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son Fox News Chairman Lachlan Murdoch saw enough, just like they did when former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson accused former Fox New Chairman Roger Ailes of sexual harassment in 2016. When the once imperial Ailes went down July 21, 2016, it was thought unthinkable to see the mastermind of Fox News resign in disgrace. Even President Donald Trump expressed his confidence in Ailes, whose mounting sexual harassment claims eventually did him in. Since establishing the Fox News channel Oct 7, 1996, Ailes promoted O’Reilly rapidly becoming the network’s top on-air talent.
More than Ailes, O’Reilly was the face of the network, commanding the most highly rated show capturing over 700,000 viewers since the sexual harassment scandal reached a fever’s pitch April 5. Paying out over $20 million in legal fees to settle numerous sexual harassment claims, Fox News dumped their cash cow, agreeing to pay him one year of severance pay, approximately $25 million. It’s not entirely clear whether or not Murdoch’s payout leaves O’Reilly liable for future lawsuits. Several lawsuits have already been settled, raising the question why Fox News would not put O’Reilly on indefinite leave until the crisis died down. While he’s no doubt radioactive now, it’s a matter of time before the whole mess blows over. O’Reilly’s proved himself over the years as a top on-air talent, capable of growing and holding his audience.
Instead of letting the legal process play itself out, Fox News succumbed to the avalanche of loud mouth attorneys hitting the network with a PR wrecking ball. Many celebrities have been accused of sexual harassment, largely from disgruntled former employees. Fox News recently went through sexual harassment accusations by former host Gretchen Carlson who eventually settled for $20 million Sept. 6, 2016, about the same time they paid off former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes $40 million. Fox News acquiesced to the demands of attorneys Marc Kasowitz and Lisa Bloom, both kept the heat on the network. Instead of patiently waiting out the crisis, Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch pulled the plug on O’Reilly believing they could replace him with 47-year-old Tucker Carlson, just like they did when Megan Kelly left Fox News Jan, 3, 2017.
Fox News has no chance of replacing Bill O’Reilly with Tucker Carlson or anyone else. Honed over 45 years working for CBS and ABC News, 67-year-old O’Reilly became one of the nation’s most respected boradcast journalists. His Fox News Show “The O’Reilly Factor,” was atop the cable news ratings since the Fox News Network launched in 1996. O’Reilly’s 26 best-selling books are unprecedented for any American journalist, whether or not he’s considered an opinion journalist. His gravitas as a broadcast journalist led him to interview virtually every national and global leader or celebrity over the last 40 years. Losing O’Reilly is not only a blow to Fox News but a blow to broadcast journalism in the country. Murdoch saw only the loss of advertising dollars, not the long-term repercussions of losing the most talented broadcast journalist of his generation.
Accused of sexual harassment by several women, O’Reilly was not accused of rape or domestic violence. When it comes to mentoring along young attractive female broadcast journalists, there’s a tendency to ignore the reality of Hollywood’s life-in-the-fast-lane. Whether in broadcast journalism, TV or the movies, fraternization has been well documented, leaving the practice, whether liked or not, a fact of life. If O’Reilly did something inappropriate, it should be left to attorneys and the courts, not studio executives to satisfy voracious attorneys looking for a big payday. Former Fox News media psychologist Wendy Walsh confessed recently that O’Reilly once asked her to go to his hotel room. While unsavory, it’s not a capital offense, proving, if nothing else, that it’s par-for-the-course in the media business, now looked at akin to child or domestic abuse.
O’Reilly got the ax not because what he did was so egregious but Fox executives couldn’t take a long view on a short-term problem. Fox’s legal team could have dealt with celebrity attorney’s looking for more publicity at the network’s expense. While there’s no question that O’Reilly’s arrogance got himself into hot water, his behavior was not the criminal conduct alleged by legitimate rape victims by mega-millionaire Hollywood comedian Bill Cosby. O’Reilly was guilty to letting his libido get the better of him, surrounded by ambitions attractive women looking to advance their careers by whatever means necessary. Ridding Fox News of Bill O’Reilly does nothing to advance women’s rights, only highlights the sanctimonious atmosphere in today’s litigious society. O’Reilly’s the latest casualty in today’s politically correct culture.
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