After the New York Times published a bombshell piece last weekend revealing that Bill O'Reilly had reached a settlement with five women accusing him of sexual harassment, the Fox News Channel has been backed into a corner. With pressure mounting, the network has now been forced into a investigation, with O'Reilly's future hanging in the balance.
Fox News on O'Reilly
Dating back to over a decade ago, Bill O'Reilly has been accused of sexually harassing at least five women during that time. According to the New York Times report, O'Reilly and Fox News paid out $13 million to the women in various settlements in an attempt to keep the scandal out of the news.
In the years since, O'Reilly has maintained his spot as one of the highest rated cable news hosts for the better part of two decades. "The O'Reilly Factor" has routinely been a top show for Fox News, which has been dealing with other sexually-related scandals of their own. Roger Ailes, the network's founder and former CEO, was forced out last year after numerous women came forward to claim they were sexually assaulted by him at different times throughout the years. As reported by CNN, and later LawNewz, on April 9, Fox News is now going to do their own investigation into the allegations at hand.
"This is not blowing over...there are going to be more claims," says @LisaBloom on Bill O'Reilly harassment scandal https://t.co/CQd6ZssYpg
— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) April 9, 2017
On Sunday morning's "Reliable Sources" on CNN, attorney Lisa Bloom appeared and elaborated further on the scandal involving Bill O'Reilly.
Bloom represents Wendy Walsh, one of the women who has accused the Fox News host of the aforementioned sexual harassment, and claims that she was denied a promotion after turning down O'Reilly's advances in 2013.
Fox Will Investigate O’Reilly Sexual Harassment Claim, More Women to Step Forward, Attorney Claims https://t.co/JMTA8HMphi pic.twitter.com/JP6D0qem3k
— LawNewz (@law_newz) April 9, 2017
Lisa Bloom first went on to thank Mercedes for pulling their ad time from "The O'Reilly Factor," which has since resulted in 50 sponsors dumping Bill O'Reilly.
Not stopping there, Bloom said that she had been in contact with legal representatives for Fox News, noting that "they said that they are indeed going to do an investigation based on Wendy’s complaint." In addition, Bloom hinted that even more women could soon be coming out with similar allegations against O'Reilly, and that she had personally spoken to them.
Next step
With dozens of sponsors bailing, and the negative publicity increasing on a daily basis, many are wondering what the future will hold for Bill O'Reilly. While O'Reilly brings in strong ratings with a loyal fan base, Fox News is still recovering from the scandal of sexual assault surrounding Roger Ailes, with speculation only increasing that they could be forced to put the popular host on the side lines, at least until the story blows over, or maybe even indefinitely.
