The Murdochs turn against Billo
[UPDATED 10:20pmEDT] It looks like it is time to cue the fat lady for Bill “Mr. Factor Fiction” O’Reilly:
Fox News is preparing to cut ties with its biggest star, Bill O’Reilly, according to people close to the situation.
A final decision on Mr. O’Reilly’s fate could come as early as the next several days, the people said. Mr. O’Reilly, host of “The O’Reilly Factor,” has been ensnared in a sexual-harassment scandal related to previously undisclosed settlements he and Fox News paid to women who worked on or appeared on his program.
…
TO READ THE FULL STORY
[UPDATED 7:59pmEDT] Brian Stetler at CNN has this:
A well-placed source said Tuesday afternoon that representatives for Fox and O’Reilly have begun talking about an exit. But this prompted a denial from sources in O’Reilly’s camp.
Even one person close to O’Reilly, however, said he will probably not be back on “The O’Reilly Factor.”
The original well-placed source said an announcement about O’Reilly’s fate was likely by the end of the week.
The fact that none of these sources were willing to go on the record speaks to the delicate maneuvering underway.
Citing sources, Gabriel Sherman suggests the end for O’Reilly is near:
With only six days remaining in Bill O’Reilly’s vacation, the pressure on the Murdoch family to decide the embattled commentator’s fate is intensifying. Three sources with knowledge of the discussions said that, while no final decision has been made, the Murdochs are leaning toward announcing that O’Reilly will not return to the air. Sons James and Lachlan have been arguing that O’Reilly needs to go, say these sources, though their father, Rupert, has resisted that outcome.
The prospect of dumping O’Reilly — once unimaginable — has gained steam this week due in part to street protests outside Fox News headquarters and advertiser boycotts on O’Reilly’s air. One network insider said Fox executives are alarmed by the severity of the ad-revenue decline. “It’s worse than Glenn Beck,” the insider said, referring to the advertiser revolt that helped derail Beck’s Fox News career in 2011.
And there’s this:
I represent a new woman who just phoned in a complaint of sexual and racial harassment against Bill O'Reilly to the Fox News hotline.
— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) April 18, 2017
Think Progress elaborates:
The woman phoned in a complaint to the Fox News hotline — an anonymous hotline for all of 21st Century Fox — accusing O’Reilly of sexual and racial harassment. She did not disclose her identity or her race. However, Bloom said O’Reilly called the woman “hot chocolate” and leered at her.
O’Reilly’s office was reportedly near the woman’s desk.
“He would never talk to her, not even hello, except to grunt at her like a wild boar,” Bloom told The Hollywood Reporter. “He would leer at her. He would always do this when no one else was around and she was scared.”
“She was afraid if she told him to knock it off she’d get fired,” Bloom added. “Now that’s she’s aware this is all in the news, she’s decided to phone in a complaint to the Fox News hotline.”
Bloom’s decision to announce she would represent the woman came on the same day that a group of protesters affiliated with UltraViolet and survivors of sexual assault called for O’Reilly’s termination outside Fox News headquarters in New York City.
