Demonstrators rally against Fox News television personality Bill O’Reilly outside of the News Corp. and Fox News headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, April 18, 2017, in New York City. The protest against O’Reilly, who has been the subject of numerous sexual harassment allegations and legal settlements, was organized by the women’s group UltraViolet and the New York chapter of National Organization for Women.
Initially, Fox News and parent company 21st Century Fox stood by their highly-rated host. Mr. O’Reilly has denied any wrongdoing, saying he paid settlements to “put to rest any controversies to spare my children.”
However, as advertisers fled his show, debate inside company ensued over the pros and cons of keeping Mr. O’Reilly on the air. His show draws about 4 million viewers a night, and the controversy didn’t dent his ratings.
21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal parent company News Corp share common ownership.
Mr. O’Reilly hasn’t been on the air since April 11, when he ended his show by announcing plans for a vacation. While Mr. O’Reilly had planned to take this week off, the early start to his vacation wasn’t part of the original plan, people familiar with the matter said. The plan was for him to return to his show next Monday.
On Tuesday, an attorney for Mr. O’Reilly said the host has “been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America” and added that it has “evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by far-left organizations bent on destroying O’Reilly and Fox News for political and financial reasons.”
The negative publicity for 21st Century Fox follows the exit last year of Fox News Chairman and chief executive Roger Ailes that put a spotlight on the treatment of women at the network. Mr. Ailes resigned in July after he was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, prompting an internal investigation within the company. Mr. Ailes has denied all of the accusations.
Write to Joe Flint at [email protected] © Erik Mcgregor/Pacific Press/ZUMA Press
Write to Joe Flint at [email protected]
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