Speaking out about uber s culture. the new york times uncovered bill o reilly s secret history of harassment settlements. while he denied wrongdoing, advertisers shunned him within a few weeks, fox news forced him out. a month later, roger ailes passed away, the end of an era for fox news but that going on, reporters were working on blockbuster investigations. nbc said he didn t think the reporting was solid enough to air, they took it to the new york kw yorker. it caused a reckoning in hollywood and around the world. allegations by powerful men, charlie rose, kevin spacey and
Inside their own glass house. and the latest shocking report from the new york times that in january, bill o reilly, you remember him, used to have a show on fox news, settled a previously undisclosed harassment claim for $32 million, and that the very next month after that settlement, fox news extended his contract for four more years at $25 million a year. quoting the times, it was at least the sixth agreement made by either mr. o reilly or the company to settle harassment allegations against him. 21st century fox said while it was aware of the statement when it renewed o reilly s contract that the terms were confidential and his new contract added protections for the company specifically aimed at harassment. 21st century fox is taking specific action to transform fox news. the company added that it did let o reilly go after further allegations came to light. and bill o reilly has defended himself, contesting the figures in the new york times article, in an interview on the new
[ bleep ]. okay? so it s on you if you want to destroy my children further, all right, because it s all crap. this is horrible. it s horrible what i went through, horrible what my family went through. this is crap! and you know it. it s politically and financially motivated, and we can prove it shocking information. o reilly released a statement saying that the person involved in that settlement had repudiated allegations against him, and he painted fox news harassment claims as well par for the course. quote, here are the fax. after the chairman of fox news roger ailes was fired in july 2015, dozens of women accused scores, that s 20s, of male employees of fox news of harassment. o reilly also said he had never had one complaint filed against him by a coworker to human resources. but megyn kelly lodged a complaint. and today she described it. and that s next.
And as part of that settlement, there were audiotapes of that harassment. so it begs the question of what kind of physical evidence did this claim have to merit a settlement that was 30 or 40% greater than what gretchen carlson had. i thought it was incredibly revealing that in response, that o reilly s lawyers issue a statement saying you got to understand the context here, man. they re scores, scores of men have been accused of sexual harassment over fox news. and i couldn t tell if they were trying to say oh, everyone is accusing everyone of everyone. or hey, this is just the kind of workplace it was. it s a little bit of both. at its root, bill o reilly s defense is he was a victim. he is saying i m a powerful guy, people are going to come after me. i think the evidence speaks for itself. he over the years has spent according to the new york times more than $45 million of his own money and the company s money to settle claims with women. i mean, bill o reilly, this just a p
O reilly had apparently been dealt with. and by that i mean he was permitted with management s advance notice and blessing to go on the air and attack the company s harassment victims yet again. msnbc contributor dave sherman is a special correspondent at vanity affair who exposed roger ailes. the big news is the allegations of repeated harassment, nonconsensual sexual relationship, a term i m having a hard time getting my head around, sending of gay pornography to lis wheel who is a former fox news legal analyst. everyone s reaction to this is what the heck kind of settlement is $32 million? it s a shocking figure on its face. just for comparison, we look at the number gretchen carlson got $20 million to settle her claim with roger ailes. and as part of that settlement, there were audiotapes of that harassment. so it begs the question of what kind of physical evidence did this claim have to merit a settlement that was 30 or 40%