Bill O'Reilly Sexual Harassment Allegations: Fox News Could Fire Veteran Host, Sources Claim

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who is facing accusations of "sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior" by at least six women, might be fired from the network, sources reportedly said Tuesday. O'Reilly has been on a pre-planned vacation, which he revealed on his show last Tuesday saying that he was taking a break from work.

"The arrangements, including airline and hotel reservations, for this vacation were made last October. The vacation involves a group of people, and the timing coincides with the period Mr. O'Reilly often takes off in and around his children's spring break," Mark Fabiani, a spokesman for O'Reilly, reportedly said in a statement earlier this month.

"Other than the vacation guest hosts, The Factor broadcast will remain unchanged until Mr. O'Reilly's return post-vacation," Fabiani added.

However, the scenario might change once the host returns. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Murdoch family that owns 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, is considering firing O'Reilly following the allegations. The news has not yet been confirmed by Fox.

O'Reilly's lawyers released a statement defending him on Tuesday, in which they compared the sexual harassment allegations to McCarthyism in America.

"Bill O’Reilly has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America," the statement said, and claimed that the allegations are a part of a "smart campaign" that has been "orchestrated by far-left organizations bent on destroying O’Reilly for political and financial reasons."

O’Reilly and the network have settled sexual harassment and verbal abuse claims over the years with about $13 million, according to a New York Times investigation report published April 1.

The women who made the harassment accusations against the host either appeared on O’Reilly’s show or worked under him. Some of the cases were known earlier, however, the Times unearthed new information about them.

• Andrea Mackris, former producer at Fox News accused O'Reilly of making inappropriate phone calls. According to reports, O'Reilly paid her a $9 million settlement in 2004.
• Wendy Walsh had been a regular guest on the “O'Reilly Factor” and she claimed that he offered to help her get a position at Fox News but refused to do so after she declined to go to a hotel room with him in 2014. She has filed a lawsuit against the host and the network.
• Rebecca Gomez Diamond, former Fox Business host, also accused O'Reilly of inappropriate phone calls. O'Reilly paid her a settlement in 2011.
• Juliet Huddy, a regular on-air personality accused him of inappropriate phone calls and trying to kiss her, and then damaging her career after she rejected his advances. Fox paid her a $1.6 million settlement in 2016.
• Andrea Tantaros, former Fox News host, filed a lawsuit against O'Reilly and former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes for alleged sexual harassment, in summer last year.
• Laurie Dhue, former Fox News host, filed a lawsuit against O'Reilly and Ailes also for alleged sexual harassment and the network paid her over $1 million in 2016.