Former Fox News star Bill O’Reilly went on a rampage and threatened a PBS host after she questioned him about the sexual harassment allegations that led to his firing from the network.
Margaret Hoover, host of the PBS program Firing Line, spoke with O’Reilly on Tuesday to promote his new book, Confronting the Presidents.
But the interview spiraled out of control when Hoover asked him about the more than $40 million he spent on sexual harassment allegations during his time at the network.
“I’d be crazy to bring that up,” Reilly fumed after declining to comment, then confirmed: “You don’t know anything about it.”
Vacuum cleaner, A Fox News contributor and guest at The O’Reilly Factor from 2007 to 2011, replied, “I know a lot about the culture from what I experienced at Fox News.”
“Okay. That’s enough,” an exasperated O’Reilly said as he threw up his hands and walked off the set, telling her, “You’re going to be in trouble.”
Margaret Hoover, who hosts Firing Line on PBS, is pictured interviewing former Fox host and American conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly
At one point during the interview, O’Reilly can be seen with both hands in the air and saying, “Okay. That’s enough.”
The former Fox host worked at the network for more than two decades before being fired after The New York Times reported on the private settlements.
The staggering $13 million settlement, plus an additional $32 million, went to women who accused him of sexual harassment while he was at the network.
The heated exchange began about 30 minutes into the one-on-one interview, when O’Reilly told his former Fox colleague that she did not know the facts surrounding the allegations against him.
He claimed that he himself had not made any settlements and that he was unaware of any measures taken by Fox News. Hoover, however, did not believe this.
Bill O’Reilly was embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal while working at Fox News
At some point, Hoover started reading the op-ed she wrote in the New York Times in 2017, in which she applauded his firing from Fox.
“Instead, Mr. O’Reilly blamed others, embracing the victimization he so derided of the American left, claiming that his departure was not his fault but the price of doing business as a prominent media personality,” she recited.
“This is a bizarre claim. William F. Buckley and Anderson Cooper are well-known media personalities, and yet they have never been subjected to repeated sexual harassment.”
When she asked her guest how he had responded, he said, “No,” and later accused Hoover of conducting an “ambush interview,” although Hoover claimed her interviewer had expected her to bring up the brutal subject.
Hoover was dogmatic in her questioning during the interview
Before leaving the set, O’Reilly advised Hoover not to air the conversation.
“If you’re going to use that stuff, you’re going to have a problem. So I’m going to tell you right now, because that’s just nonsense,” O’Reilly said.
“I’m not going to record some fake bullshit. You’re going to edit this and, you know, my lawyer is going to watch it.”
On Wednesday, O’Reilly’s attorney filed a legal claim with WNET, the parent company of PBS.
She did not appear upset, despite O’Reilly’s responses to her questions
Hoover said To mediate her response to their conversation, in which she said that O’Reilly, who had hosted the PBS program for seven years, was the first guest “not to formally end the interview in saying goodbye.”
“It is disappointing that Bill O’Reilly, knowing he would be asked, failed to consider how the settlements between him and several women affected their ability to earn a living in the media again, even as he continues to ‘thrive’ in independent media, as he puts it,” she said.
She further stated: ‘It was clear he was uncomfortable answering questions about the allegations of sexual harassment, which are a significant part of his legacy.
“I also offered him the opportunity to comment on legislation to empower victims of sexual harassment and on developing workplace culture, but he declined that offer,” she told the news agency.
On Friday, hours before the interview was set to air, Hoover teased and posted a clip of their interview on Xformerly Twitter.
