“After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel,” 21st Century Fox said in a statement.
New York Magazine had previously reported that the owners of Fox News, the Murdoch family, “have decided Bill O’Reilly’s 21-year run at Fox News will come to an end.”
This Wednesday, Fox executives reportedly held meetings to discuss how the relationship with their widely-followed TV host would be severed without causing a ripple effect across the network.
According to NY Mag, a “key issue discussed by executives was whether or not O’Reilly would be able to say goodbye to his audience, described as “the most loyal in all of cable,” in a final broadcast.
Fox executives are leaning against allowing him to have a sign-off, sources say. The other main issue on the table is money. O’Reilly recently signed a new multiyear contract worth more than $20 million per year. When Roger Ailes left Fox News last summer, the Murdochs paid out $40 million, the remainder of his contract.
An independent analysis by the the ad-tracking firm iSpot.tv showed O’Reilly lost about half its advertisers since the allegations surfaced.
This is a developing story and we’ll update it as more information becomes available.
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