Report: O'Reilly's Behavior one of the Reasons Megyn Kelly Left Fox News
/Fox News offered Megyn Kelly over $20 million bucks to stay at the network.
She walked and a new report says that Bill O'Reilly played into her reason for leaving the cable news network.
The NY Times says that last fall, in the weeks after 21st Century Fox struck settlements with two women who said that Bill O’Reilly had sexually harassed them, the Fox News host went on morning television and offered a harsh assessment of women who had come forward with complaints about the network.
“Look, it’s open season,” he said, visibly irritated, when asked about a recently published book by Megyn Kelly, his colleague at the time. In the book, Kelly provided an account of being sexually harassed by Roger Ailes, the network’s former chairman. Later O’Reilly added, “Let’s whack the Fox News Channel. I’ve had enough of it. It’s a good place to work. All right?”
The comments set off a media firestorm and frustrated Kelly, who sent an email to Fox News executives complaining about his behavior and the chilling effect it could have on women at the company and beyond, according to four people with knowledge of the email who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
Despite Kelly’s complaint, and a plea from a producer that O’Reilly not be allowed to make similar remarks on his prime-time show, O’Reilly delivered a second public scolding on the program that night.
“If you don’t like what’s happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave,” he said.
Kelly took O'Reilly's advice and left.
That experience, along with a deep skepticism about whether the network was truly committed to changing its culture after Ailes was forced out, was a factor in Kelly’s decision to leave Fox News.