‘Exit Negotiations Are Moving Quickly’
Fox News has made the decision to part ways with Bill O’Reilly before the longtime host is slated to return from vacation April 24, according to Fox News expert, New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman. Sherman detailed last year’s events that led to now-former Fox News Chair and CEO Roger Ailes.
“The Murdochs have decided Bill O’Reilly’s 21-year run at Fox News will come to an end,” Sherman, citing unnamed sources, reports. “Wednesday morning, according to sources, executives are holding emergency meetings to discuss how they can sever the relationship with the country’s highest-rated cable-news host without causing collateral damage to the network. The board of Fox News’ parent company, 21st Century Fox, is scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss the matter.”
Sherman says “O’Reilly’s exit negotiations are moving quickly,” and debate rests on whether or not O’Reilly should be allowed to say goodbye on-air to his audience, as well as what the network will pay him. O’Reilly has a contract worth $20 million a year.
On April 1 The New York Times broke the news that Fox and O’Reilly had paid five women about $13 million over sexual harassment allegations. O’Reilly claimed the payments were made to protect his family. Since then, at least two more women have come forward with allegations, including the most recent, reportedly an African-American Fox News employee who says O’Reilly called her “hot chocolate.”
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