Bill O'Reilly: A timeline of the controversy surrounding the Fox News host
After revelations of a series of settlements with female employees of the network who accused him of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior, Bill O'Reilly and 21st Century Fox have parted ways.
The Fox News host had been on a two-week vacation that, effective Wednesday, became permanent.
A The New York Times investigation earlier this month revealed that he or the company made payouts totaling about $13 million to five women involving over several years.
O'Reilly has denied those claims have merit. Here's a look at what the Times found through their reporting.
2002
According to current and former employees interviewed by the Times, O’Reilly stormed into the Fox newsroom and screamed at a young producer. Not long after, the Times reported, the woman, Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, left the network with a payout. The case did not involve sexual harassment, the paper said. As part of the deal, Bernstein was subject to a confidentiality agreement.
2004
In October 2004, O'Reilly, who had been at Fox News since 1996, was sued publicly for sexual harassment by 33-year-old Andrea Mackris, a former producer for The O'Reilly Factor. According to the Times, Mackris recorded some explicit conversations with O'Reilly, people familiar with the events told the paper. The case, which included a $60 million countersuit that alleged “scandalous and scurrilous” extortion, was fought out in the media for about two weeks before O’Reilly agreed to pay Mackris about $9 million, according to people briefed on the agreement who were interviewed by the Times.
2011
In 2011, according to the Times, Rebecca Gomez Diamond, who had hosted a show on the Fox Business Network, was told the network was not renewing her contract. Like Mackris, the paper reported, she had recorded lewd conversations with O’Reilly, which her lawyers took to the company. Diamond left the network with a unknown payout and bound by a confidentiality agreement, according to the Times.
2016
In 2016, according reporting by the Times, lawyers for Laurie Dhue, a Fox News anchor from 2000 to 2008, went to the company to outline harassment claims against O’Reilly as well as against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who also was accused of harassment by several other women and who left the network in the same year. The case was settled for more than $1 million, a person briefed on the agreement told the Times.
The same year, according to the newspaper, Fox reached a $1.6 million settlement with Juliet Huddy, a regular guest on The O’Reilly Factor. Huddy’s lawyers alleged that O’Reilly pursued a sexual relationship with her in 2011, the Times said, at a time he had significant influence over her airtime. Among Huddy’s complaints, the paper reported, was that he made inappropriate phone calls and that when he tried to kiss her, she pulled away and fell to the ground and he didn’t help her up.
Also in 2016, former Fox host Andrea Tantaros filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News, claiming that O'Reilly made sexually suggestive comments to her.
"Fox News masquerades as defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny," said her lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court in New York County.
2017
In its investigation, the Times also reported a claim by former O'Reilly Factor guest Wendy Walsh, who, she alleged, declined an offer from O'Reilly to go to his hotel suite in 2013.
Walsh said she came forward because she was told by a Times reporter that many of the women who have accused O'Reilly of harassment are bound by gag orders, according to an Associated Press report. She said she is not bound by any such agreement, and the statute of limitations for suing has run out.
In the wake of the Times' story, the O'Reilly Factor lost advertising from almost 60.
On April 11, O'Reilly announced he would take a two-week vacation and was due to return to the show on April 24.
During his absence, lawyer Lisa Bloom, who has aired harassment complaints by at least one other woman against O’Reilly, announced that a former Fox clerical worker, who is not contemplating any legal action, said he referred to her as “hot chocolate” at one point when they were together alone, made grunting noises and leered at her cleavage and legs. The woman, who is said to be African-American, believed she would be fired if she complained to anyone, according to Bloom, but did report her allegations to an anonymous company hotline set up in 2008.