Megyn Kelly Slams Bill O’Reilly And Fox News

No dancing and Jello shots today, folks. Megyn Kelly went right for it. She went after O’Reilly and Fox News.

For those who need to catch up, here’s what you need to know. Bill O’Reilly settled a sexual harassment claim just one month prior to renewing his contract with Fox News. We’re talking $32 million.

That’s a big chunk of change.

In other words, Fox News knew about that but renewed his contract anyway.

21st Century Fox released this statement:

Here is 21st Century Fox’s statement about today’s revelation about Bill O’Reilly’s $32 million settlement: pic.twitter.com/Tf5VG5DfH7

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 21, 2017

And Bill O’Reilly’s spokesman released this statement:

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.

Caught up? Good.

Now, Megyn Kelly’s weighing in.

“O’Reilly’s suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false,” Kelly said Monday. “I know because I complained.”

“O’Reilly’s suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false. I know because I complained.” @megynkelly on Bill O’Reilly pic.twitter.com/BO8ifQcJbu

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 23, 2017

She actually sent an email to the co-presidents of Fox News, complaining about Bill O’Reilly’s behavior toward women…LAST YEAR.

Kelly, who worked at Fox News from 2004 until January, said she wrote an email to the co-presidents of Fox News, Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy, in November 2016 about O’Reilly’s treatment of women.

 

Kelly’s memoir, “Settle for More,” had been released that day and included a chapter in which Kelly said she was sexually harassed by former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.

 

In an appearance on CBS News, O’Reilly became defensive when he was asked about the book.

“I’m not interested in basically litigating something that is finished that makes my network look bad,” he said. “I’m not interested in making my network look bad at all. That doesn’t interest me one bit.”

 

That prompted Kelly to complain to Shine and Abernethy.

Hence, the email, which read in part:

“Perhaps he didn’t realize the kind of message his criticism sent to young women across this country about how men continue to view the issue of speaking out about sexual harassment,” she wrote in the email. “Perhaps he didn’t realize that his exact attitude of shaming women into shutting the hell up about harassment on grounds that it will disgrace the company is in part how Fox News got into the decade-long Ailes mess to begin with.

 

“Perhaps it’s his own history of harassment with women, which has, as you both know, resulted in payouts to more than one woman, including recently, that blinded him to the folly of saying anything other than, ‘I’m just so sorry for the women of this company who never should’ve had to go through that.”’

 

Kelly said Shine informed her he would “deal with it.”

 

“By 8 p.m. that night, O’Reilly had apparently been dealt with, and by that I mean he was permitted with management’s advance notice and blessing to go on the air and attack the company’s harassment victims yet again,” Kelly said.

 

On his show that night, O’Reilly said, “Don’t run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it,” about any women who feel they have been harassed.

Kelly continued and said that kind of behavior isn’t exclusive to Fox News.

“This is not unique to Fox News,” Kelly said. “Women everywhere are used to being dismissed, ignored or attacked when raising complaints about men in authority positions. They stay silent so often out of fear.”

 

Kelly also said Fox News’ media relations chief, Irena Briganti, was “known for her vindictiveness.”

 

“To this day she pushes negative articles on certain (Roger) Ailes accusers like the one you are looking at right now,” she said.

 

“It gives me no pleasure to report such news about my former employer, which has absolutely made some reforms since all of this went down. But this must stop. The abuse of women, the shaming of them, the threatening, the retaliation, the silencing of them after the fact. It has to stop.”

 

Kelly said she made the email public “because I think it speaks volumes about powerful men and the roadblocks one can face in taking them on.”

But wait– there’s MORE. Bill O’Reilly responded by…reading thank you letters from Megyn Kelly on Glenn Beck’s radio show.

One was sent after O’Reilly attended a baby shower for one of her children, and the other came when he plugged a book by Kelly’s husband Douglas Brunt on his show.

 

‘I never had any problem with Megyn Kelly,’ O’Reilly said to Beck at one point, less than an hour after Megyn referenced the clip of him thrashing her on CBS.

 

‘I don’t know why Megyn Kelly is doing what she’s doing. I don’t know why.’

 

He later called her actions ‘incomprehensible,’ and stated: ‘I have dramatically helped her in her career.’

Your turn. Team Megyn or Team O’Reilly?

I’m gonna have to side with Megyn on this one. I really don’t trust O’Reilly.

h/t Daily Mail