Fox settled sexual harassment claim against Bill O'Reilly
Executives at 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, settled a sexual harassment charge brought by an employee against its prime-time star, Bill O’Reilly, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The charge was brought by Juliet Huddy, a Fox broadcaster who joined the company in the late 1990s, the person confirmed Tuesday, speaking anonymously due to the confidential nature of the agreement.
The settlement, first reported by Lawnewz.com Monday and confirmed by The New York Times, was finalized several weeks after former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes was ousted last July following a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by another Fox broadcaster, Gretchen Carlson.
Huddy agreed to refrain from suing the network and was paid a sum in "the high six figures," according to Lawnewz and the Times.
O’Reilly pursued a sexual relationship with Huddy in 2011, but when she rebuffed his unwanted sexual advances, he tried to derail her career, the Times reported, citing a letter Huddy’s lawyers sent to Fox News. The Times said a copy of the letter was anonymously mailed to its offices in December.
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Jack Abernethy, a longtime Fox executive who was named co-president of Fox News after Ailes left, was also accused by Huddy of retaliating against her after she rebuffed O'Reilly's advances, the report said.
“Juliet Huddy’s letter of intent to sue contained substantial falsehoods which both men vehemently denied," Fox News said in a statement.
Jeanne Christensen, an attorney at law firm Wigdor LLP who's representing Huddy, declined to comment.
Huddy's complaint buttresses Carlson and several of her colleagues' claims that top Fox News executives tolerated its culture of sexual harassment during Ailes' reign. Ailes has denied Carlson's charges.
But in September, 21st Century Fox paid Carlson $20 million to settle her lawsuit and issued a forceful apology, saying she "was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve.”
In 2004, O’Reilly settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former Fox producer, Andrea Mackris.