Bill O’Reilly: ‘There Was No Reason’ I Was Fired From Fox News

‘There Was No Reason’ Given by Fox News for His Firing, O’Reilly Claims

Former Fox News top host Bill O’Reilly says after more than two decades at the conservative cable news network he was fired for no reason. O’Reilly’s termination from Fox News came after a New York Times article earlier this year revealed Fox and O’Reilly had paid five women who accused him of harassment or sexually inappropriate behavior at least $13 million between 2002 and and 2016.

Appearing on national television for the first time since being fired, the 68-year old journalist and author sat down with NBC’s “Today” show host Matt Lauer.

“What was the exact reason you were given, or your representatives were given by people at Fox News for your firing?” Lauer asked.

“There was no reason,” O’Reilly responded.

Throughout the interview, O’Reilly maintained he is one hundred percent innocent, that none of the allegations against him are true, that in his 42-year career not once has anyone ever filed a Human Resources complaint against him, and that his firing was a “business decision” by Fox News after a campaign by the “extremist” left wing group Media Matters.

It is a stunning portrait of a man – innocent or not – who seems to be in denial.

O’Reilly says he stands by his innocence.

“My legal team was very aggressive in putting forth our point of view – and that’s all I’m going to say about it,” he told Lauer.

O’Reilly, who now has a podcast, says Fox News simply made a business decision when they fired him.

Asked, “Did you ever send a lewd text or email to another employee at Fox News?” O’Reilly said, “No.” 

O’Reilly said he never sued the women who accused him “because you can’t win those lawsuits.” He says because he’s a public figure, he would not have been able to win. “Sarah Palin is the latest example,” O’Reilly said, presumably referring to her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which was tossed out of court recently.

O’Reilly supporters will be glad to know that despite all the allegations against him, he sleeps just fine.

“I can go to sleep at night very well knowing that I never mistreated anyone on my watch in 42 years.”

Innocent of the allegations or not, it should be noted that Bill O’Reilly spent years cultivating a culture of sexism, misogyny, racism, and homophobia from his desk at Fox News.

In April Joan Walsh wrote, “let’s celebrate the end of the career of Bill O’Reilly: bully, alleged serial sexual harasser, and creepy hypocrite who preached against sexual liberation, gender equality, and racial justice while possibly harassing an entire rainbow generation of women.”

O’Reilly has openly advocated for white nationalism, defended the use of slaves to build the White House, claimed Christians are “verbally being killed” by progressives, claimed single Black mothers have “devastated millions of children,” which has “led to disaster, both socially and economically.”

O’Reilly as also claimed the “War on Christmas” is really a cover for the promotion of the “gay rights agenda” and abortion. He’s said that Hispanics, women, Blacks, and gays are “non-traditional” voters who “don’t believe in self reliance” or “American exceptionalism.” And he’s compared gay people to Al-Qaeda.

That’s just for starters.

O’Reilly takes no responsibility for the culture of hate he created and promoted at Fox News.

Is he innocent of the harassment allegations? He says so.

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