Yahoo – AFP,
April 19, 2017
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| Bill O'Reilly, shown in this 2016 photo, had originally planned to return to his nightly show on April 24 after taking a "long-planned break" (AFP Photo/ Ilya S. Savenok) |
New York
(AFP) - Fox News severed its relationship with Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday,
dumping America's most-watched cable news anchor over a flood of sexual
harassment allegations and dwindling advertising.
"After
a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly
have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News
Channel," 21st Century Fox said in a statement.
The
announcement followed growing reports that the corporation headed by Rupert
Murdoch intended to sack the veteran host and just hours after the right-wing
television personality was photographed shaking hands with Pope Francis in
Rome.
The
combative host, who has worked at Fox for 21 years, is currently on what he
called a "long-planned break" but had originally intended to return
to his nightly show on April 24.
New York
magazine reported Wednesday that executives were preparing to announce
O'Reilly's departure before his return from Italy and were holding emergency
meetings to discuss how to sever the relationship without damaging the network.
O'Reilly
shot into the headlines earlier this month when the New York Times reported
that he and Fox had paid five women a total of $13 million in cases spanning 15
years, in exchange for their silence and agreement not to sue.
O'Reilly
had not directly denied the allegations, saying he was "vulnerable to
lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative
publicity."
His
dismissal on Wednesday comes less than a year after Roger Ailes, the
76-year-old former executive who built up Fox News, resigned under a cloud of
his own sexual harassment accusations.
President
Donald Trump, an avid Fox News watcher, had leapt to O'Reilly's defense
following the New York Times report, calling him "a good person."
But despite
rising ratings, dozens of companies yanked their advertising from his show.
"The
O'Reilly Factor" has been hosted by a rotating cast of substitutes in his
absence, including Dana Perino, former spokeswoman for president George W.
Bush.
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