Bill O'Reilly Ends Interview After Being Asked About Sexual Harassment Settlement

In a segment set to air Friday, former Fox News host Bill OReilly cut short an interview with PBS host Margaret Hoover after he was asked about a sexual harassment settlement that cost him his job.

OReilly sat for the interview with Firing Line last week to discuss his new book, Confronting the Presidents. But OReilly couldnt handle being confronted himself after Hoover asked him about the $32 million sexual harassment settlement he paid in 2017.

The settlement was paid to former Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl, who accused OReilly of repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to her, according to The New York Times .

When @MargaretHoover confronts @BillOReilly about the sexual harassment claims that led to his firing at @FoxNews, he refuses to comment.

\"I'd be a fool to dredge that up.\"

Asked about a law ending forced arbitration in similar cases, he says, \"I don't care about any of that.\" pic.twitter.com/Fx9iWczqUB

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When @MargaretHoover confronts @BillOReilly about the sexual harassment claims that led to his firing at @FoxNews , he refuses to comment.

"I'd be a fool to dredge that up."

Asked about a law ending forced arbitration in similar cases, he says, "I don't care about any of that." pic.twitter.com/Fx9iWczqUB
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (@FiringLineShow) September 20, 2024

Hoover, who used to work for Fox News, read parts of a 2017 New York Times opinion piece that she wrote criticizing OReilly.

Mr. OReilly blamed others, embracing the victimization he so ridiculed of the American left, Hoover wrote at the time. He claimed his departure was no fault of his own, but the cost of doing business as a high profile media personality. This is an outlandish claim. William F. Buckley, Tom Brokaw and Anderson Cooper are high-profile media personalities, and yet, they have never been dogged with repeated sexual harassment entanglements.

OReilly told Hoover hed be a fool to dredge that up, and went on the defensive.

You dont know anything about it, so you can write whatever you want, OReilly said.

I do know about the culture that I experienced there, Hoover replied. Thats what I could write about, and thats what I did have the ability to write about.

You were on my program for four years, you had no problem, and thats what you know about me, OReilly said. You dont know anything else about me, so you write whatever you want.

Hoover pressed OReilly on questions regarding the settlement.

I knew you were gonna do this, all right? And Im not afraid, OReilly said, before ending the interview.

In an interview with Mediaite , Hoover said it was disappointing that OReilly wouldnt answer her questions.

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Its disappointing that Bill OReilly, knowing he would be asked, has not reflected on how the settlements involving him and several women have affected their ability to earn a living in media again, even as he continues to, in his words, flourish in independent media, Hoover told the publication.

Before leaving the set, OReilly warned that his attorney is going to be watching, according to Mediaite.

The full episode of Firing Line airs Friday night.