Bill O’Reilly Responds To NYT’s ‘Smear Piece’

On Saturday, the New York Times published a report, claiming that Bill O’Reilly settled a $32 million sexual harassment claim about one month prior to renewing his contract at Fox News. In other words, Fox News knew about the mounting allegations against O’Reilly (allegations which included “repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material”)– to some extent. The network renewed him anyway.

Although the deal has not been previously made public, the network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, acknowledges that it was aware of the woman’s complaints about Mr. O’Reilly. They included allegations of repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to her, according to the people briefed on the matter.

 

It was at least the sixth agreement — and by far the largest — made by either Mr. O’Reilly or the company to settle harassment allegations against him. Despite that record, 21st Century Fox began contract negotiations with Mr. O’Reilly, and in February granted him a four-year extension that paid $25 million a year.

 

Interviews with people familiar with the settlement, and documents obtained by The New York Times, show how the company tried and ultimately failed to contain the second wave of a sexual harassment crisis that initially burst into public view the previous summer and cost the Fox News chairman, Roger Ailes, and eventually Mr. O’Reilly, their jobs.

It looks bad, especially coming from a network that has been slamming Hollywood’s pervy hush-hush culture.

Well, O’Reilly has finally responded.

Yet another smear article on me. https://t.co/rryWmyXe7C has the verifiable truth. Please check it out. https://t.co/rGdVIF3SDD

— Bill O’Reilly (@BillOReilly) October 21, 2017

Well, kind of. He responded through his spokesman Mark Fabiani.

Here’s Fabiani’s full statement:

October 21, 2017

 

Once again, The New York Times has maliciously smeared Bill O’Reilly, this time even failing to print a sworn affidavit from his former lawyer, Lis Wiehl, repudiating all allegations against Bill O’Reilly. The Times ignored that evidence, sworn under oath, and chose to rely on unsubstantiated allegations, anonymous sources and incomplete leaked or stolen documents.

 

Here are the facts: after the Chairman of Fox News Roger Ailes was fired in July 2016, dozens of women accused scores of male employees of Fox News of harassment – including the current co-president of Fox News Jack Abernathy.

 

21st Century Fox settled almost all these cases, paying out close to $100 million dollars. Six months after Mr. Ailes left the company, Fox News Corporation signed Bill O’Reilly to a record breaking new contract after the company had analyzed and considered all allegations against him.

In its first article about Mr. O’Reilly on April 1st, The New York Times printed inaccurate settlement figures while fully understanding that O’Reilly and his counsel are legally bound by confidentiality and cannot set the record straight.

 

In its latest diatribe against Bill O’Reilly, the Times printed leaked information provided by anonymous sources that is out of context, false, defamatory, and obviously designed to embarrass Bill O’Reilly and to keep him from competing in the marketplace.

 

Finally, in the more than 20 years Bill O’Reilly worked at Fox News, not one complaint was filed against him with the Human Resources Department or Legal Department by a coworker, even on the anonymous hotline. The New York Times has copies of two letters written by 21st Century Fox lawyers attesting to that fact.

 

The Times failed to print them, too.

 

Click here to read the sworn affidavit of Lis Wiehl.

More:

When times get tough, good people accept the pain and get through it. I hope you will all read what we’ve posted on https://t.co/rryWmyXe7C.

— Bill O’Reilly (@BillOReilly) October 21, 2017

My investigative team has done a superb job in exposing the lies and smear. I will speak with you on Monday.

— Bill O’Reilly (@BillOReilly) October 21, 2017

Of course, Gretchen Carlson had a few other things to say.

Nobody pays $32m for false allegations – nobody https://t.co/qB3njcHHuy

— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) October 21, 2017

No need to wait for Monday. Another right wing conspiracy? Women are getting brave #truth #Befiercebook #metoo https://t.co/c9LSAHs9Y1

— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) October 22, 2017

NYT editor Dean Baquet provided this statement in response to Fabiani:

“Mr. Fabiani addresses everything but what the story actually says. This article, like our previous reporting on the subject, is accurate and deeply reported and we welcome any challenge to the facts. The affidavit he claims our story ignored is quoted in our article twice.”

What do you think?

Smear campaign? Is there any truth to this? Is it a little bit of both?