Bill O’Reilly claims he’s the victim of an elaborate “hit job” after The New York Times dropped a bombshell report about him over the weekend.
Just to recap: On Saturday, The Times reported that, back in January, O’Reilly paid $32 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by FOX News legal analyst, Lis Wiehl, who accused the 68-year-old of “repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship, and sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material.”
Related: Bill O’Reilly caught up in $32 million gay scandal
Now, the fired cable news host has responded in typical outrageous fashion. Yesterday, O’Reilly tweeted:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
I'm not going to run and hide because I didn't do anything wrong. NYT wants to take me out of the marketplace, second time they attacked me.
— Bill O'Reilly (@BillOReilly) October 23, 2017
The obvious question here is, if O’Reilly “didn’t do anything wrong” then why did he fork over $32 million? And why did he lose his $100 million contract with FOX News?
O’Reilly also went on Glenn Beck’s radio show (remember him?) yesterday to discuss the allegations. He called the reports “wildly wrong,” then said: “But I can’t confirm or deny anything because then it goes back into the legal arena and the New York Times knows that. I can’t comment on any specific case at all; if I could I would.”
Related: Bill O’Reilly’s replacement Tucker Carlson once beat up a gay guy who “bothered” him
He continued, “It’s very frustrating for me being accused of everything under the sun and being linked with Harvey Weinstein. This is dishonest in the extreme and it’s frustrating, but unless I want another seven or eight years of litigation that puts my children in the ‘kill zone,’ I have to maintain my discipline.”
Of course, all of this could have been avoided if O’Reilly had simply “maintained his discipline” by not sexually harassing five of his coworkers. But we digress.
“I can tell you this,” O’Reilly told Beck. “In 20+ years at the Fox News Channel I resolved three things and I only did that to keep my children safe.”
O’Reilly finished by saying he hopes that “the American people will see that this is an attack on me for political purposes. It has done enormous damage to me and my family.”
Never mind the “enormous damage” he’s wreaked over the years.
1EqualityUSA
Please, Mr. Predator, “maintain your discipline” in the privacy of your own room.
DCguy
Actually he CAN deny the amount if it’s completely wrong. The fact that he isn’t tells you all you need to know.
Bob LaBlah
I wonder if the boys in his “private” life are black, latino or white. Seriously, I can’t see this guy with a sex toy let alone another human being. That just how much of a turn off he comes off as. He was perfectly cast as the frustrated white male anchor and deserves an Emmy award for his excellent portrayal. Fox needs to see the neon sign blaring in Times Square or on the foreheads of its audience saying its time to change the foolishness and go back to reporting news instead of sex. The setting of their show The Five is aimed at the happy hour crowd and they know it.
Kangol
O’Loofah’s not into “boys,” he’s into young(er) white women. There are multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him, some of them pretty spectacular, and his ex-wife and daughter alleged domestic violence. He’s an extremely vile, rac!st hypocrite.
He BGB
He sure does keep publicly whining, for someone worried about his “children”. He must think that is the key word that will get people to take his side but most people don’t care, Bill, just go away like Glenn Beck did (Glenn Beck is back? Ugh)
Chris
Non-disclosure agreements have a way of cutting both ways. And I’m glad it’s cutting into Bill O’Reilly’s earnings.
JaredMacBride
Queerty’s idea of a “gay scandal” is a man allegedly sending gay porn to a person who purports to be a straight woman? That is headline writing worthy of Fox News or the National Enquirer.
DCguy
No, the idea of a scandal is somebody who did something so horrific that he paid a person $32 million dollars out of his personal money to keep quiet about it.
JaredMacBride
@DCGuy – That wasn’t a “gay” scandal. What he had with her was very hetero. Try reading carefully. I know that isn’t required in DC but it’s good for you anyway.
1EqualityUSA
This photograph is immense. The right eye is dark. Creepy dude.
AllanSum
“It has done enormous damage to me and my family.”
No, your disgusting misogynistic, abusive and predatory behavior has done that. Just like a sexist, sociopathic narcissist to fail admit that they are real cause of the alleged damage. What a disgusting turd of a human being. Flush.
Juanjo
Bill needs to be careful. There was a settlement here and having a little experience in how these settlements work, there are several clauses coming into play here. First the victims cannot release any specifics of the settlement. Bill cannot trash them or claim they are lying. He is skating close to a line which will trip a penalty clause which is probably going to cost him a lot more money than he or Fox want to pay out. Personally I hope he crosses it and the victims’ attorneys invoke and take Bill to the fricken cleaners
GayEGO
Guys like Bill O’Reilly do not think molesting women is wrong, even though they feel guilty enough to pay their victims millions of dollars. So Sad! Molestation of any kind is wrong, plain and simple!
DCguy
I don’t think they pay because they fell guilty, they pay because the laws are different today and they could actually get in trouble for sexual assault unlike in the past.
DCguy
Ok, so the other women he harassed got settlements of 2 million up to around 9 million. In this one, not only did he pay $32 million, but he paid it out of his own pocket and tried to hide it from FOX. That sounds like not only did he do something horrible, but that she had undeniable proof that he did it.