‘Completely Unfounded Claims’
Despite having joined with his employer to pay five women about $13 million over their allegations of sexual harassment, despite at least two more women stepping forward alleging sexual harassment, and despite an investigation by a third party law firm hired by Fox News, Bill O’Reilly has just declared his innocence.
21st Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch, and his two sons announced earlier today that Fox News and Bill O’Reilly had agreed to part ways amid well over 60 advertisers having left the show and news today that almost half of America thought Fox News should cancel his show.
“Over the past 20 years at Fox News, I have been extremely proud to launch and lead one of the most successful news programs in history, which has consistently informed and entertained millions of Americans and significantly contributed to building Fox into the dominant news network in television,” a statement from O’Reilly reads. Â
“It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims. But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today. I will always look back on my time at Fox with great pride in the unprecedented success we achieved and with my deepest gratitude to all my dedicated viewers. I wish only the best for Fox News Channel.”
O’Reilly did not mention his team or staff, his family, or any of the women who came forward to accuse him of harassment.
Wednesday afternoon Fox announced O’Reilly would not return to the network, announced a new lineup, but did not release any details related to compensation for the former host. O’Reilly’s contract is work about $20 million annually.
RELATED:Â Roger Stone: Grassroots Efforts to Convince Fox News to Fire Bill O’Reilly Violate First Amendment
To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.
Image by Justin Hoch via Flickr and a CC license