Bill O’Reilly announced on The O’Reilly Factor Tuesday night that he’s taking a totally planned vacation, leaving midweek and he wants to make clear that even though it looks like a suspension, it’s not a suspension. He’s simply going to spend some quality time with himself on some epic, totally planned vacation:
Around this time of year, “I grab some vacation, because it’s spring and Easter time. Last fall, I booked a trip that should be terrific,” he said.
His vacation announcement comes as about 60 companies said they won’t advertise on his show. The exodus followed a recent report in The New York Times that five women were paid a total of $13 million to keep quiet about harassment allegations.
Will he be back? Sources tell the New York Magazine O’Reilly could be finished at Fox News:
But according to four network sources, there’s talk inside Fox News that tonight’s show could be his last. Lawyers for the law firm Paul, Weiss, hired last summer by 21st Century Fox to investigate Roger Ailes, are currently doing a “deep dive” investigation into O’Reilly’s behavior. They’re focused now on sexual harassment claims by O’Reilly guest Wendy Walsh after she reported her claims via the company’s anonymous hotline.
There is a struggle within the Murdoch family and James Murdoch apparently wants the serial sexual harasser out:
Fox News co-president Bill Shine has been working hard to keep O’Reilly, sources said. But O’Reilly’s future is in the hands of the Murdochs. “It’s up to the family,” the senior Fox News staffer said. The Murdochs are presently divided over how to handle it. Two highly placed Fox News sources say 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch would like O’Reilly to be permanently taken off the air, while his father, Rupert, and older brother, Lachlan, are more inclined to keep him. (A spokesperson for the Murdochs declined to comment.)
For now the plan seems to be for O’Reilly to return to the Spin Zone on April 24.
READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE AT THE DAILY KOS WEBSITE
