Backlash Begins from Fox's Firing of O'Reilly

Kerry Lear

9 years ago

Although the former Fox News host, Bill O&rsquo&semi;Reilly released a humble statement in response to being fired from the network, his lawyer released a statement slamming the organization for their decision&period;&NewLine;O&rsquo&semi;Reilly&rsquo&semi;s attorney, Marc Kasowtiz said repeatedly the mounting sexual accusations against his client were part of a &ldquo&semi;smear campaign&rdquo&semi; orchestrated by far-left organizations&period;&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Bill O&&num;8217&semi;Reilly has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America,&&num;8221&semi; wrote Kasowitz in the statement to several news outlets Tuesday night&period; &&num;8220&semi;This law firm has uncovered evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by far-left organizations bent on destroying O&&num;8217&semi;Reilly for political and financial reasons&period; That evidence will be put forth shortly and it is irrefutable&period;&&num;8221&semi;&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;The parent company of Fox News, 21st Century Fox officially announced that the network would be cutting ties with their wildly popular host after a series of harassment accusations were brought to light a few weeks ago&period; The New York Times reported that allegedly Fox was forced to pay about &dollar;13 million to O&rsquo&semi;Reilly&rsquo&semi;s &ldquo&semi;victims&rdquo&semi; as hush money&period; &nbsp&semi;&NewLine;The network has suffered in terms of advertising ever since the allegations against O&rsquo&semi;Reilly hit the media&period; &nbsp&semi;&NewLine;&ldquo&semi;Since then, more than 50 advertisers had abandoned his show, and women&rsquo&semi;s rights groups had called for him to be fired&period; Inside the company, women expressed outrage and questioned whether top executives were serious about maintaining a culture based on &ldquo&semi;trust and respect,&rdquo&semi; as they had promised last summer when another sexual harassment scandal led to the ouster of Roger E&period; Ailes as chairman of Fox News,&rdquo&semi; writes the New York Times&period; &nbsp&semi;&NewLine;Apparently, Fox decided to no longer ride it out, even though The O&rsquo&semi;Reilly Factor was the network&rsquo&semi;s cash-cow and most popular program&period; The show brought in &dollar;178 million in 2015 and according to the investment bank Nomura, the show accounted for 20&percnt; of 21st Century Fox&rsquo&semi;s profits&period; &nbsp&semi;&NewLine;Now the network is experiencing another challenge, the massive backlash from O&rsquo&semi;Reilly&rsquo&semi;s loyal army of viewers&period;&NewLine;&ldquo&semi;The network remains stalled there&period; And Fox, along with 21st Century Fox, remains vulnerable to treacherous traffic flows that pose the most serious threats to its standing since it became the No&period; 1 cable news network some 15 years ago and claimed its &ldquo&semi;Most Powerful Name in News&rdquo&semi; mantle,&rdquo&semi; writes the New York Times&period; &ldquo&semi;First there is Mr&period; O&rsquo&semi;Reilly&rsquo&semi;s own audience, which steadfastly stuck with him &mdash&semi; and then some &mdash&semi; as the revelations about sexual harassment&nbsp&semi;first emerged in The New York Times&period; For as long as he has been &ldquo&semi;looking out for&rdquo&semi; them &mdash&semi; as he puts it &mdash&semi; he has sworn to beat back the &ldquo&semi;secular progressive&rdquo&semi; forces of political correctness&period;&rdquo&semi;&NewLine;Many of O&rsquo&semi;Reilly&rsquo&semi;s fans doubt the allegations and see this as an attack from liberal groups and are disappointed that Fox News let them win&period; &nbsp&semi;&NewLine;&ldquo&semi;Generally, the Fox audience is not going to be happy the network fired him,&rdquo&semi; said Chris Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media&period; &ldquo&semi;They&rsquo&semi;re going to think it was unfair&period;&rdquo&semi;&NewLine;With that being said, 21st Century Fox believes Fox News will survive&period; &nbsp&semi;&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;By ratings standards, Bill O&&num;8217&semi;Reilly is one of the most accomplished TV personalities in the history of cable news,&&num;8221&semi; said 21st Century Fox in a statement&period; &&num;8220&semi;In fact, his success by any measure is indisputable&period; Fox News has demonstrated again and again the strength of its talent bench&period; We have full confidence that the network will continue to be a powerhouse in cable news&period;&NewLine;Author&rsquo&semi;s note&colon; Although Fox News is much more than a news organization, with popular TV shows and movies bringing in massive viewers, the network is still going to take a hit&period; O&rsquo&semi;Reilly&rsquo&semi;s following is large and many will likely boycott Fox News due to what they see as an unjust decision&period; The road to recovery is going to be long&period;&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;