Bill O’Reilly, the former Fox News host who left the cable news network in April under a cloud of sexual harassment accusations and an advertiser boycott, was on Sean Hannity’s radio show recently, his first public appearance beside his podcast. O’Reilly has a new book, “Killing England,” coming out. He was also buoyed by recent revelations about one of his principal accusers.
Hannity asks O’Reilly to come back to Fox News
Hannity, himself a long-serving Fox New host, wondered whether O’Reilly would ever return to the cable news network in some capacity or another.
A return of O’Reilly, except as a floating contributor, maybe a little difficult since the prime-time lineup has just recently undergone yet another reshuffle with Laura Ingraham getting a new show. O’Reilly, in any case, claims that he is enjoying his forced retirement too much to come back to the daily grind of hosting a TV show.
‘Hot chocolate’ accuser was once arrested for filing a false report
O’Reilly has been telling one and all that his legal team is preparing a counterattack against some of his accusers. He famously settled a number of sexual harassment actions, though denying that he did it and claimed that he only paid off his accusers to protect his family. In any case, revelations about Perquita Burgess, whose accusations against O’Reilly was the straw that broke the camel’s back and let to his ouster, has buoyed his case that he was railroaded.
Burgess, a clerical temp who worked at Fox News for several weeks in 2008, claimed that O’Reilly had made several sexually aggressive remarks to her, including calling her “hot chocolate.” Burgess is African American. She detailed the accusations the day after O’Reilly was fired on an episode of “The View.”
The site Newsmax has obtained details of Burgess’ 2015 arrest in Detroit for filing a false report that her boyfriend had hit her in the face with a gun.
When the police arrived, she admitted that there was no gun and no assault. Even though Burgess was arrested, the police ultimately declined to pursue charges.
On another occasion, Burgess is said to have tweeted, "… up until ten years ago Laurence Fishburne could get every oz. of my hot chocolate."
None of this absolutely proves that Burgess was lying about O’Reilly, but it does impeach her credibility.
O’Reilly, in the meantime, is claiming his departure from Fox News was the result of a campaign by liberal groups keen to take conservative voices off air. He has suggested that legal action may be forthcoming.
