Ten companies pull ads from O’Reilly show

Ten companies are pulling advertisements from Bill O’Reilly’s primetime cable program on Fox News following a Saturday report that the host paid $13 million to five women who accused him over the years of sexual harassment.

Hyundai, BMW of North America, Untuckit, Constant Contact, Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, GSK pharmaceuticals, Allstate and Sanofi consumer healthcare have said they are pulling their commercials from “The O’Reilly Factor,” NBC News and The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Global asset management firm T. Rowe Price also joined the list, while Mercedes-Benz announced on Monday that it was pulling its ads from the 8 p.m. ET program.

Fox indicated in a statement that companies’ ad buys had been shifted to other programs on the network.

“We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about the O’Reilly Factor. At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs,” said Paul Rittenberg, Fox’s executive vice president of advertising sales.

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O’Reilly, who has been the top-rated host in cable news for 15 consecutive years, was the subject of a front-page New York Times article this weekend that detailed sexual harassment claims by five women that resulted in $13 million in payouts from the network and O’Reilly.

Hyundai said it made the decision to no longer advertise on the show due to “recent and disturbing allegations,” according to the New York Times.

BMW North America based its decision “in light of the recent New York Times investigation.”

“We regularly evaluate our media buys to ensure alignment with our corporate values, and in light of the recent allegations we have decided to pull our upcoming ads from The O’Reilly Factor,” T. Rowe Price said in a statement reported by The Daily Beast.

Men’s apparel company Untuckit said it was told by its media buyer to “reallocate our ad dollars to other shows” while the situation is monitored.

O’Reilly, 67, has reportedly hired noted crisis communications expert Mark Fabiani, who once served as special counsel and legal spokesperson for President Clinton and his administration from 1994 to 1996.

O’Reilly said in a weekend statement that being a well-known public figure makes him vulnerable to lawsuits and the settlements were made “to put to rest any controversies to spare my children.”

“Just like other prominent and controversial people, I’m vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity,” the statement read. “In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline.

“But most importantly, I’m a father who cares deeply for my children and who would do anything to avoid hurting them in any way. And so I have put to rest any controversies to spare my children.”

O’Reilly has two teenage children.

Also on Tuesday, the National Organization for Women demanded an independent investigation by conducted at Fox News. The organization has also called on O’Reilly to be fired.

“Mr. O’Reilly’s case is part of a larger culture that condones the harassment and objectification of women at Fox News,” wrote NOW president Terry O’Neill in a statement.

“Men like Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Ailes will never be stopped as long as their behavior is allowed to continue, even supported, by their employer.”

Updated: 6:52 p.m.