Image Source: NPR.org
Bill O’Reilly has been the face Fox News and reigned the top-rated host in cable news. However on Wednesday, 21st Century Fox, the network’s parent company, dropped Bill O’Reilly.
This was after the revelation that Fox had quietly paid out around $13 million in settlements to five women who had accused him of sexual harassment. But this isn’t the first time Fox had claims of sexual harassment, as Roger Ailes, the founding chairman of Fox was forced out last summer for sexual harassment. So these secret payments Fox does to keep these cases out of the public eye have become a real problem for Fox News.
After the settlements concerning Bill O’Reilly were exposed, over 50 advertisers dropped their ads from his show The O’Reilly Factor. This eventually led to 21st Century Fox to drop Bill O’Reilly and made Tucker Carlson his replacement.
According to the New York Times, “This is a seismic cultural shift, when a corporation puts a woman’s rights above the bottom line,” said Wendy Walsh, a former guest on Mr. O’Reilly’s show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” who made allegations against him. “Today, we have entered a new era in workplace politics.”
With this new revelation comes many questions concerning the network, settlements, and burying sexual harassment claims. It seems like the network didn’t act until money was on the line. These settlement further contributed to the problem of women’s accusations being trivialized. But what we learn from this situation was that society actions and protests can make a difference.