Fox knew of Bill O'Reilly harassment settlement before renewing contract
- by Claire Allen
- in Culture&Arts
- — Oct 25, 2017
Former Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly was handed a new contract in January, despite the network's parent company knowing he had recently settled a sexual harassment case.
A representative for O'Reilly told the New York Times that once Fox News received a sworn affidavit from Wiehl "renouncing all allegations against him", it offered him "a recording breaking contract".
In a statement, parent company 21st Century Fox said was aware of the settlement, but not the sum, when it signed a $25m-a-year contract renewal. O'Reilly was sacked in April, after the Times reported five women were paid a collective $13 million to stay silent about their harassment allegations against him.
O'Reilly was sacked in April after it was revealed he had paid out $13 million to five women to settle other sexual harassment allegations. Fredric S. Newman, O'Reilly's lawyer, said the company was eager to have the host stay on after the departure of Megyn Kelly, another of the most popular Fox News personalities, and initiated the negotiations. "The company subsequently acted based on the terms of this contract".
The amount that O'Reilly settled for - $32 million - and the fact that Fox still re-upped O'Reilly's after the fact, despite not knowing the details of the settlement at the time, is what made the story so big.
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As part of the settlement, Wiehl agreed to destroy messages and photos from O'Reilly that could back up her complaints, and to keep silent on the issue, the newspaper reported.
Given the attention that Fox News hosts have paid to the Weinstein story, it will be interesting to see whether O'Reilly's massive settlement receives much, or any, coverage from the network's primetime opinionators and moralists.
He made suggestive remarks to her on the air for years afterward, such as recommending that she dance at a strip club, and her other complains against O'Reilly "included allegations of repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to her, according to the people briefed on the matter", the Times reports.
At the time, Fox News was trying to overcome negative press from the scandal surrounding the network's founder and CEO Roger Ailes. The New York Times first reported the previous five settlements in April, spurring outcry that ended in Mr. O'Reilly's ouster.
