Fox News Quietly Settled A Sexual Harassment Claim Against Bill O’Reilly Following Roger Ailes’ Ousting

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On Tuesday, the New York Times reported on documents that revealed how Fox News secretly came to a settlement agreement with former host Juliet Huddy after she accused Bill O’Reilly and Fox News Co-President Jack Abernethy of sexual harassment. The reported settlement arrived mere weeks after Roger Ailes was ousted from the network last fall after a wave of sexual harassment allegations.

In documents regarding the settlement, Huddy alleged that, beginning in 2011, O’Reilly had tried to pursue a sexual relationship with her. She also claimed that he tried to affect her career after she turned him down. The documents detailed alleged behavior from O’Reilly, who Huddy says repeatedly called her, tried to kiss her, invited her to his Long Island home, and arrived in his boxers as she stopped by his hotel room.

Law Newz initially reported that Huddy had sent a letter of intent to sue Fox News not long after the Ailes allegations surfaced. O’Reilly, Abernethy, and the Fox News network have denied the claims, and Law Newz notes that neither O’Reilly nor Abernethy paid any amount of the reported high-six-figure settlement.

This isn’t the first time O’Reilly has been accused of sexual harassment. In fact, there’s quite a history of similar allegations, including a prominent 2004 lawsuit, in which former Fox News producer Andrea Mackris accused O’Reilly of shocking behavior. Her largely tape-recorded evidence revealed O’Reilly’s apparent taste for threesomes, vibrators, Thai sex shows, Caribbean shower fantasies, and … falafel.

In addition, former Fox News personality Andrea Tantaros (who also made sexual harassment claims against Ailes) alleged in a lawsuit that O’Reilly tried to lure her to Long Island and promised that, under “very private” circumstances, she should let him see her “wild side.”

(Via The New York Times, Law Newz, The Smoking Gun & ThinkProgress)

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