Media

O’Reilly: Attacks are a ‘horror show’ for me and my family

by Joe Concha - 10/23/17 12:58 PM ET

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said Monday in a radio interview that attacks against him have been a “horror show” for him and his family, The Associated Press reported.

O’Reilly’s comments came during an interview with Glenn Beck, also a former Fox News host, and followed a New York Times report that the network paid a $32 million settlement to legal analyst Lis Wiehl after she accused O’Reilly of harassment.

O’Reilly told Beck he couldn’t discuss specifics about Wiehl’s case for legal reasons, but said the Times was motivated by personal hatred of him and published the Wiehl story only to keep him from getting back on a broadcast network, according to the AP.

{mosads}

O’Reilly also said it was “incomprehensible” that former Fox colleague Megyn Kelly, whose career O’Reilly claims to have helped “dramatically,” would criticize him as she did on her NBC morning show on Monday, the AP reported.

Kelly appeared on O’Reilly’s program as a weekly guest to provide analysis on legal matters in addition to being an anchor on the network.

O’Reilly posted on his website two thank-you notes Kelly had written to him for attending one of her baby showers.

“What a class act you are coming to my baby shower. I was truly touched,” Kelly wrote in one.

The former attorney slammed O’Reilly on “Megyn Kelly Today” on Monday after he defended himself against allegations of harassment by stating no woman had ever complained about him to the Human Resources department or the company’s legal department during his 21 years at the network.

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

The New York Times reported on Saturday that executives at the network knew about the settlement when O’Reilly renewed his contract in February for $100 million over four years.

O’Reilly was fired two months later after his top-rated program lost more than 50 advertisers following an April 1 report in The New York Times that five women were paid $13 million to settle sexual harassment suits.

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