Bill O’Reilly is out of a job at Fox News.
After more than 20 years at the network, O’Reilly’s tenure at the conservative news corporation is over. In a statement released Wednesday, the company and O’Reilly agreed to part ways. The move comes in the wake of harassment allegations and reports that five women had been paid to keep quiet, the Associated Press reports.
“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. This decision follows an extensive review done in collaboration with outside counsel,” the statement read.
O’Reilly is currently on an Italian vacation until next week. The tide first began to turn on O’Reilly after he made disrespectful remarks about Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Then New York Times dropped a bombshell which revealed that Fox News had paid off five women to the tune of $13 million for not going public with their allegations of harassment against Bill O’Reilly.
Former O’Reilly producer Andrea Mackris received a large settlement of $9 million after a 2004 sexual harassment lawsuit.
Despite the fact that O’Reilly’s ratings increased during the new sexual harassment allegations, The O’Reilly Factor lost over 40 advertisers and Fox News felt the heat.
President Trump defended O’Reilly as the allegations began to mount,
“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled. Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong,” he said.
The O’Reilly Factor was the number one show in cable news for over 15 years.