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Bill O’Reilly closes his program “The O’Reilly Factor” by wagging his pen at the camera and claiming “the Spin stops here.”
Apparently it’s not just the Spin that’s stopping on his program. Several major advertisers are dropping their ad buys on his program after the media king was revealed to be a possible sexual harasser.
As of this writing, a total of ten major advertisers have dropped ads since Monday. Auto companies Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai led off the charge to vacate Fox on Monday. On Tuesday BMW of North America joined them, along with GlaxoSmithKline, Constant Contact, Allstate, and Sanofi Consumer Health Care, which advertised ACT mouthwash. Oh, and that young guy who developed the chic untucked shirt? Yep, he’s gone too. UNTUCKit also left The Factor.
These defections have resulted from a bombshell weekend report that found that five women had received some $13 million in payouts from Fox or O’Reilly as hush money. They had either worked for O’Reilly or appeared on his show. Their complaints included “verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating.”
So what was O’Reilly’s response to this report? Meh. He didn’t deny the allegations, he merely claimed that as a Big Media Dog he expects to be a target. So what is his explanation for the payouts? Oh, he’s a father who “cares deeply” for his children, so he chose to “put to rest any controversies.”
Uh huh. Sounds to me like O’Reilly is hyping his own spin.
One of the women who claimed harassment also cares deeply for her children, including her teenage daughter. As a result, she has come forward to tell her story. And she’s not looking for money, either.
Wendy Walsh is a professor of psychology who claims that her contract at Fox dried up after she refused O’Reilly’s advances.
Arguably, the women’s allegations are difficult to prove. Those who love O’Reilly will stand by him. Those who don’t like Bill O. will believe the accusations. Everyone will view this story through their own confirmation bias. But just remember that when Fox News chief Roger Ailes was accused of the same sort of thing, Gretchen Carlson, one of Ailes’ accusers, was able to bring him down with proof: she had recorded his advancements on her iPhone. Taking down a Big Dog is therefore not impossible.
In any case, this leaves Fox News in a kerfuffle. The “O’Reilly Factor” is immensely popular as the number one cable news program. Bill O’Reilly is a cash cow for the network, so if he goes the way of Ailes, what then? Advertising is the lifeblood of broadcasting, so if too many big companies leave O’Reilly behind, will Fox boot him? Will brothers James and Rupert Murdoch, the new bosses at Fox, pre-emptively decide to clean house and sweep out O’Reilly?
If that happens, then Bill O’Reilly can add another volume to his Killing book series. You know the titles — Killing Lincoln, Killing Reagan, and his latest, Killing the Rising Sun. But now he can add an autobiographical tome and call it Killing My Career. It just might be a best seller.
UPDATE: Seventeen companies have now pulled advertising from “The O’Reilly Factor.” They include now Mitsubishi Motors, Lexus, Bayer, Orkin, and Wayfair, among others.
ejism says: Too lighthearted about the situation, had to read events of said evening from a script. Not litigious, maybe because she has no case, just trying to hurt OReilly’s reputation. I’m not saying OReilly is guilty or innocent, but this instance seems like sour grapes because she lost the job.
Kim Quade says: Too lighthearted about the situation. . .
If Ms. Walsh would’ve cried, would you have accused her of fake crocodile tears? Or if she had been stern and assertive, would you have seen her as a bitchy feminist?
No matter how she appeared in that news conference, I think I can accurately infer that you would’ve criticized her. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.
I’m not saying O’Reilly is guilty or innocent, but this instance seems like sour grapes because she lost the job.
Or perhaps loss of her appearances was because she refused to participate in the sexual hijinks that permeated Fox News under Roger Ailes. And yes, I think you’ve already decided that the guilty party is Ms. Walsh.
Believe it or not, women are sexually harassed by men in power. It happened to my mother back in the 1970’s. She was in her early 50’s, no less. Her ‘offense’ was being a petite woman who dressed well in an office setting.
Some men are pigs, even those who are supposedly conservative.
Thank you for reading.
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