The Murdoch family is reportedly fighting about top Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s future at the network in the wake of accusations of sexual harassment against him, New York Magazine reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
O’Reilly is currently away on vacation, his longest in years, and the family is “leaning toward” announcing he will not be back on air, according to the report. James and Lachlan Murdoch are of the opinion that O’Reilly needs to go, sources apparently told the publication, but their father, Rupert, is not so sure.
“The three are fighting,” an unnamed source told New York Magazine.
Part of the reason Murdoch is resistant is that he doesn’t want it to look like he was “forced into a decision by The New York Times,” the report continued.
This report comes on the heels of dozens of companies pulling out of advertising on O’Reilly’s show after it came to light that several sexual harassment cases against him had been settled. The revenue lost, along with other factors, has made the idea of letting O’Reilly go look better and better, an unnamed source told the publication.
“It’s worse than Glenn Beck,” they reportedly said.
A spokesperson for Fox News did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment on the report.
The accusations against O’Reilly have also prompted protests outside the network and petitions to fire him.
Just watched 480,000 petitions calling for Bill O'Reilly's termination be delivered to @FoxNews office in NYC pic.twitter.com/55IIMZfQp1
— Militia Etheridge (@MaryEmilyOHara) April 18, 2017
Grudge match to the death is fine by me…
O’Reilly: Millions of people watch me every night. They will do so no matter who I grab/have fun with. If FOX lets me go, there will be other networks who will scoop me up.
Trump: Bill can broadcast his show from WH on Trump TV. He is a safe investment.
Maybe they have figured out where all this Trump fawning is taking us.
Maybe they have watched Fox evolve into totalitarian state-run media, and they don’t think it’s consistent with the role of mass media in a free society.
Maybe they’ve decided it’s time to turn the page and usher in a new age of wisdom and enlightenment, led by reporters and commentators who set aside the ways of bigotry and disinformation and dedicate themselves to serving the greater good of all Americans – a Renaissance, if you will.
Naaah.
h/t Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber
If they decide to let him continue, then the next time O’Reilly gets sued for sexual harassment Fox will have absolutely no cover at all. It will make the $17 million in hush money they’ve paid to date look like chump change.
Because they will have moved out of the simple ‘Negligence’ category into ‘Willful Negligence’.
He is gone. He is well past his “prime”, has become a huge liability…in literal terms, and they are hemorrhaging ad revenue on his show.
I suspect the real conversation is about who the can promote to replace him and Megyn Kelly. That is just too much of their line up to lose so suddenly. Hannity may think he is all that, but he really isn’t. His “best” days was when the would paint up Colmes to look like a cadaver and instruct him to lie down meekly at everything Hannity said. Those days are long gone.
Older Murdoch has ex-Jagger toy Jerri Hall to keep him busy, the sons will pull the trigger on O’Reilly, and if I were guessing…pretty soon.
@established_1781 I am positive that factor has already been figured into the decision. If this article is to be believed, they are dealing with a doddering old man angry at the NYT forcing his hand. From a business perspective…and even he gets that…he will get over that anger. Because its not a matter of “If” with O’Reilly, its a matter of “when”.