US network Fox News fires presenter Bill O'Reilly
US network Fox News has fired presenter Bill O’Reilly after a series of sexual harassment allegations.
A New York Times report earlier this month revealed that five women had been paid more than $13 million by either the network or O’Reilly to settle sexual harassment allegations against him.
“After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel,” a statement from the network reads.
After dozens of advertisers pulled out of sponsoring his show, O’Reilly went on vacation, and was expected to return next week.
O’Reilly had been at Fox for two decades, and his show, The O’Reilly Factor, was the highest-rating show on cable news.
His lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, called the allegations a "brutal campaign of character assassination".
Media Matters, the liberal group that reports on conservative media outlets, including Fox News, said the company had no choice but to expel O’Reilly.
“Fox News was forced to act. They had years to address serial sexual harassment at Fox News. They didn’t; they actually enabled it,” the group said in a statement.
“So, individuals and groups took action to educate advertisers. Advertisers fled because they immediately recognized what Fox News has ignored for over a decade: that serial sexual harassment is not only wrong, but bad for business.”
President Donald Trump has been a a supporter of O'Reilly throughout the saga.
He told The New York Times the presenter "shouldn't have settled" and "he is a good person."
Fox News has been at the centre of a number of sexual harassment claims over the past year.
Last July, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes resigned amid accusations from former anchors Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly that he had sexually harassed them.
