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Lawyer Says 21st Century Fox Will Investigate Sexual Harassment Claims against Bill O’Reilly

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By Teresa Lo

Posted on April 10, 2017

Summary: Attorney Lisa Bloom said 21st Century Fox will investigate the sexual harassment claims against Bill O’Reilly.

Curmudgeonly Fox News golden boy, Bill O’Reilly, reportedly was off the hook for several sexual harassment claims lodged against him over the years. However, the parent company of his network may step in and open an investigation.

Well-known civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom, who represents one of O’Reilly’s accusers Wendy Walsh, told CNN on Sunday that she called 21st Century Fox’s corporate line and made a complaint.

Earlier this month, The New York Times published an explosive expose about how 21st Century Fox’s company, Fox News, had paid off several women who had accused O’Reilly of sexual harassment. Over a course of ten years, Fox News and O’Reilly had paid a total of $13 million to 5 women, including Walsh.

Walsh told The New York Times that O’Reilly had promised to get her a job at Fox News, but he had changed his mind after she rejected his advances. She filed a complaint against him and was paid off in exchange for her silence.

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Walsh never pursued litigation as part of her settlement terms, but she did hire Bloom, who recorded her phone call to 21st Century Fox and uploaded the footage to Youtube. It is unclear if Walsh had violated her settlement terms, but Bloom said this was not about money but about accountability.

O’Reilly has already defended himself. He said that he was an easy target to litigation because of his wealth and visibility. He also said that there were no official complaints at Fox News’ Human Resources department against him.

Bloom told CNN’s Brian Selter that she was told attorneys from 21st Century Fox would conduct an investigation about Walsh’s complaint.

A 21st Century Fox spokesman told CNNMoney that they take complaints seriously and have hired the law firm, Paul Weiss, to assist the company with the investigation.

Paul Weiss is the same firm that conducted the investigation into former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. After Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against him for sexual harassing her, a slew of other women came forward. Ailes resigned after nearly two weeks after Carlson’s lawsuit surface.

After The New York Times expose was published, 60 sponsors have pulled their ads from O’Reilly’s popular show The O’Reilly Factor, which has an estimated audience of 4 million devoted conservative fans.

Advertisers who chose to abandon O’Reilly include Mercedes, H&R Block, Constant Contact, and Allstate Insurance.

While corporations have made a stand against the Fox News’ host, it is unclear if O’Reilly will face the same repercussions as Ailes. O’Reilly seemed to be protected by the network, but that was when they were able to keep the allegations against him private. Now that his alleged perverse behavior is in the spotlight, it is unclear what Fox News will do now to their top earner. It is reported that in two years he has earned Fox News almost $466 million, making his annual salary of $18 million a sound investment.