IT IS OFFICIAL, BILL O'REILLY -- WELL, LET'S PUT IT THIS WAY.
[LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE GOT HIM] DOWN GOES O'REILLY.
AND NOW
OFFICIALLY, DOWN GOES O'REILLY.
FOX NEWS HAS FIRED BILL O'REILLY
TODAY.
YESTERDAY WE TOLD YOU IT WAS LIKELY GIVEN THE NEWS THAT
WAS OUT IN NEW YORK MAGAZINE, MATT DRUDGE, AND OTHER SOURCES,
TODAY IT'S CONFIRMED, YOUNG TURKS HAVE OUTLASTED BILL
O'REILLY.
NOT A BIG DEAL, BILL.
>>THAT'S A MILESTONE.
>>WE ARE HIRING THROUGH OUR JOURNALISM CAMPAIGN, THAT'S HOW
DAVID GOT HERE.
SORRY BILL, OUR AUDIENCE IS NOT INTERESTED.
APPARENTLY ON MONDAY INSTEAD OF DOING TALKING POINTS HE WILL DO
WALKING POINTS.
I DID THAT YESTERDAY TOO.
BILL O'REILLY
GOES IN, BILL O'REILLY GOES OUT, YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN THAT.
>>HE'S GOING TO HIS HOUSE.
>>YOU THINK HE DISAPPEARS?
>>WHY WOULD HE?
WE WOULD GET INTO IT, BUT I DON'T SEE WHY HE
WOULD.
IT IS WEIRD THAT HE WAS FIRED, HE'S NEVER GOING TO
RETURN FROM THIS VACATION HE WENT ON THAT HE PLANNED A LONG
TIME AGO BECAUSE IT WAS JUST A ROUTINE VACATION.
THIS IS HOW
BILL O'REILLY ANNOUNCED HE WOULD BE GOING AWAY BUT
INEVITABLY COMING BACK.
>>AROUND THIS TIME OF YEAR I GRAB SOME VACATION BECAUSE IT'S
SPRING AND EASTER, LAST FALL I BOOKED A TRIP THAT SHOULD BE
TERRIFIC, NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHERE IT IS BUT WE HAVE A
CONTEST, GUESS WHERE BILL IS GOING.
I WILL HAVE A FULL REPORT WHEN I RETURNED.
>>CAN I GUESS?
UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.
>>A SPIDER HOLE IN IRAQ, ACTUALLY.
APPARENTLY HE WILL BE
ON A LONG VACATION.
AND HE'S OBVIOUSLY A RICH GUY, IF YOU
WANTED TO HE COULD SIMPLY GO AWAY.
I PERSONALLY THINK IT'S
LIKELY HE WOULD TRY TO PARLAY THIS INTO A PODCAST OR
SOMETHING.
HE HAS AN AUDIENCE, MOST OF HIS AUDIENCE WOULD HAVE
TO BE TAUGHT HOW TO DOWNLOAD PODCASTS, BUT IF HE GOT PAST
THAT HURDLE HE COULD MAKE SOME SPONSORSHIP DEALS IF THERE
ARE ANYONE STILL TO SPONSOR HIM.
>>I WILL BE THE FIRST TO THROW IT OUT, POSSIBLE
REPLACEMENT FOR SEAN SPICER.
>>NOW IT'S OUT THERE.
>>BRETT ERLICH HAS PUSHED FOR THAT AS WELL, IT IS POSSIBLE, WE
WILL GET INTO WHO WILL REPLACE HIM IN A SECOND.
A LITTLE BEFORE
THE SHOW WENT LIVE BILL O'REILLY CAME OUT WITH A STATEMENT ABOUT
HIS FIRING, IT'S A BIG DUPLICATE WITH WHAT 20TH
CENTURY FOX PUT OUT, BUT HE SAID THIS --
>>COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED, WHICH IS AN INTERESTING THING TO PUT
OUT RIGHT BEFORE -- INEVITABLY THESE THINGS WILL BE
INVESTIGATED IN COURT, WE WILL KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THE HOT
CHOCOLATE HAPPENED AND THE VARIOUS FORMS OF HARASSMENT AND
A NUMBER OF WOMEN'S CASES.
BUT LET'S PUT UP THE ANNOUNCEMENT TO
COMMEMORATE IT, AFTER A THOROUGH AND CAREFUL REVIEW OF THE
ALLEGATIONS, THE COMPANY AND BILL O'REILLY HAVE AGREED HE
WON'T BE RETURNING TO THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL.
THAT'S A VERY
SMALL PORTION OF THE TOTAL STATEMENT, BOTH FROM THEM AND
HIM, ALMOST ENTIRELY FOCUSED ON HOW HIGH HIS RATINGS WERE AND
HOW GREAT HIS SHOW WAS.
I UNDERSTAND FROM YOUR POINT OF
VIEW YOU WANT TO COMMEMORATE THE WORK YOU'VE DONE AND YOU THINK
YOU ARE GREAT AND EVERYTHING, BUT CONSIDERING WHY HE IS BEING
LET GO, AND THE VARIOUS ALLEGATIONS, THE NEW ONES AND
THE ONES WE'VE KNOWN ABOUT FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, I THINK
THAT'S A WEIRD WAY TO ADDRESS IT IF YOU ARE TRYING TO PAVE OVER
THE CONCERNS PEOPLE HAVE ABOUT THE WORKPLACE FOX NEWS HAS
MAINTAINED, THE LACK OF RESPECT AND PROTECTION IT'S GIVEN TO ITS
FEMALE TALENT, I THINK TO SAY WE WILL FIRE THE GUY, HE WAS
AWESOME, GREAT RATINGS, A SUCCESS BY ANY MEASURE IS A
QUOTE FROM THAT, I THINK THAT'S UNNECESSARILY DISRESPECTFUL
TO THE WOMEN HE HURT OVER THE COURSE OF HIS TENURE AT FOX
NEWS.
>>THEY ARE IN A TOUGH SPOT.
THEY CAN'T SAY WE ARE FIRING HIM
BECAUSE OF THE ALLEGATIONS, BECAUSE I'M SURE THERE ARE LEGAL
QUESTIONS AND LIABILITY.
BUT THEY ARE FIRING HIM.
SO IT'S
LIKE WE ARE FIRING HIM AND HE'S GREAT.
>>LET ME BUILD ON WHAT BOTH OF YOU SAID.
FIRST OF ALL, YOU ARE
TOO KIND, JOHN.
WE ALREADY HAVE FIVE SETTLEMENTS FOR $13
MILLION, HOW CAN YOU CALL IT UNFOUNDED?
YOU PAID 13 MILLION
BUCKS TO SETTLE THOSE CASES.
IF YOU ARE INNOCENT WOULD YOU PAY
13 MILLION BUCKS?
I KNOW WHAT THEY SAY, WE ARE FAMOUS, WE
PAY PEOPLE WHO ARE FALSELY ACCUSING US.
BUT THAT WOULD
ENCOURAGE MORE ACCUSATIONS.
AND FOX NEWS IS NOT THE KIND OF
ORGANIZATION THAT DOESN'T LIKE TO FIGHT.
SURRENDER IS NOT IN
THEIR DNA, THEY FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL AND THEY SAY FINE, LET'S
MAKE THIS GO AWAY.
I DIDN'T PAY THE SETTLEMENTS, BILL, YOUR
COMPANY DID BECAUSE YOU WERE WRONG, BECAUSE YOU DID SEXUALLY
HARASS FOUR WOMEN AND VERBALLY HARASSED A FIFTH.
IN THIS
STATEMENT 20 CENTURY FOX SAYS IN FACT, HIS SUCCESS BY ANY MEASURE
IS INDISPUTABLE.
IF IT WAS INDISPUTABLE, MY GUESS IS YOU
WOULDN'T HAVE FIRED HIM.
THERE IS ONE MEASURE THAT HIS SUCCESS
IS DISPUTABLE IN -- THERE HAD TO BE.
>>DOES YOUR SHOW EXIST?
>>THE MEASURE WAS, ARE YOU A DECENT HUMAN BEING, OR A GROSS
SEXUAL HARASSER WHO DOES THIS ON A SERIAL BASIS THAT IS SO TOXIC
THAT WE'VE LOST 80 ADVERTISERS, YOU'VE ENDANGERED A $14 BILLION
DEAL IN EUROPE, AND THE MORALE AT THE COMPANY IS DEVASTATINGLY
LOW FOR ALL THE WOMEN WHO WORKED THERE WHO HAD TO PUT UP
WITH YOU AND ROGER AILES' SEXUAL HARASSMENT FOR DECADES.
>>LITTLE ON THE WOMEN WHO LOST THEIR JOBS BECAUSE THEY
COMPLAINED ABOUT IT.
CAREERS CUT SHORT BECAUSE OF HIS HARASSMENT.
>>I WOULD ARGUE THAT BY AT LEAST ONE MEASURE HIS SUCCESS IS
DISPUTABLE, CAN YOU IMAGINE DAVID SIROTA, YOUR SUCCESS
AT YOUNG TURKS IS INDISPUTABLE.
BY THE WAY, YOU ARE FIRE.
>>I WOULD SAY THE FIRING IS A DISPUTATION.
>>YOU MIGHT WONDER WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SHOW AND O'REILLY NOW
THAT HE IS MOVING ON.
WELL --
>>I LOOK FORWARD TO THE DAY HE GETS FIRED, PROBABLY MORE
BECAUSE OF THE RACIST COMMENTS THAN THE MISOGYNISTIC COMMENTS
BASED ON HIS HISTORY ON THE SHOW --
>>HOLD
ON, YOU THINK YOU CAN GET FIRED AT FOX NEWS FOR RACIST COMMENTS?
>>O'REILLY DIDN'T, BUT ACTIVISTS ARE ON THE LOOKOUT NOW.
THAT'S A
GOOD POINT.
ERIC BOLLING WILL HAVE AN HOUR TO HIMSELF.
I DON'T
KNOW WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
WHAT IS THE AUDIENCE FOR AN ERIC
BOLLING HOUR?