Bill O’Reilly Angrily Walks Off Set During ‘Ambush Interview’: Report

Former “Fox News” host Bill O’Reilly angrily ended an interview after being asked about old sexual harassment accusations, Mediate reported.

According to Mediaite, O’Reilly “abruptly ended an interview with PBS host Margaret Hoover after being questioned on the allegations of sexual harassment against him.”

Hoover published an excerpt of the interview on her X page on September 20. Although it shows O’Reilly angrily challenging her when she asked about the accusations, which were revealed by The New York Times in 2017, the video ends before he left the set.

“You were on my program for four years and you had no problem,” he told her. “You know zero about this.”

Mediate reported that the incident happened on Tuesday, September 17, while O’Reilly was being questioned during a “pre-taped interview” for “Firing Line,” a PBS show that Hoover hosts. He was promoting his book, Confronting the Presidents, Mediate reported.

According to Mediate, O’Reilly accused Hoover of an “ambush interview.” He “left the set” after refusing to answer Hoover’s questions and then telling Hoover, “If you’re going to use that stuff, you’re in for a problem. So I’m telling you right now because that’s just bull,” Mediate reported.

Hoover was “a former Fox News contributor and frequent guest on The O’Reilly Factor,” O’Reilly’s former show on Fox, Mediate reported.

Bill O’Reilly Told the Interviewer That He Would Be a ‘Fool to Dredge That Up,’ the Video shows

Mediate interviewed Hoover, who told the site, “It’s disappointing that Bill O’Reilly, 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.”

In the video, Hoover told O’Reilly, “I want to go back to 2017. You’re top-rated talent at Fox News. You’ve just signed a four-year deal to renew your contract, and the Times publishes a report on settlements that you had reached with several women over harassment misconduct claims totaling $13 million. You’re forced out of the network. The Times later reveals an additional settlement worth $32 million. I don’t expect that you can comment on this.”

O’Reilly responded, “Well, I knew it was coming. I knew you were inviting me here for a discussion and that would, that would be part of it. But I’d be a fool to dredge that up.” Hoover then read from a New York Times op-ed she wrote in 2017, which contained the line, “Instead Mr. O’Reilly blamed others, embracing the victimization he so ridiculed of the American left.” She also called his firing a “welcome step” in that op-ed and said that conservative outlets needed to stand up for women.

“How do you respond?” she asked.

“I don’t. You don’t know anything about it,” O’Reilly said.

“I do know about the culture that I experienced there,” she said.

“You were on my program for four years and you had no problem. And that’s what you know about me. You don’t know anything else about me,” O’Reilly responded.

“You know zero about this,” he said.

In the interview, Hoover also pressed O’Reilly about a law that “empowers women to opt for litigation.”

“I don’t care about any of that. What I care about is due process, and you apparently don’t,” O’Reilly retorted.

“This is due process,” she said, referring to the interview.

“You read a diatribe that you wrote. You wrote it knowing nothing about it. You know nothing about it. Nothing. And you wrote this, and you present it to me. I knew you were going to do this, all right, and I’m not afraid. I will tell you this, due process is very important in this country. So next time don’t write some inflammatory essay trying to be a virtue signaler unless you know what the hell you’re talking about,” O’Reilly said.

O’Reilly continued: “You don’t know anything about me, other than the four years you were on my program which went swimmingly for you.” As Hoover continued questioning him, he said, “All right that’s enough. I’m not going to get into this anymore.” He added, “Got anything else on the book?” before saying, “That’s it.”

The New York Times reported in 2017 that O’Reilly had settled a sexual harassment claim for $32 million. It was filed by a former legal analyst named Lis Wiehl, The Times reported.

NBC News reported that the settlement was “one of the biggest in recent memory, topping even the $20 million payment received by former Fox News host, Gretchen Carlson, who sued the late Fox News boss Roger Ailes, after alleging she was harassed.”

According to NBC News, O’Reilly was “forced off the air” after The New York Times reported that O’Reilly had been accused of sexual harassment.

21st Century Fox told NBC News at the time:

When the company renewed Bill O’Reilly’s contract in February, it knew that a sexual harassment lawsuit had been threatened against him by Lis Wiehl, but was informed by Mr. O’Reilly that he had settled the matter personally on financial terms that he and Ms. Wiehl had agreed were confidential and not disclosed to the company. His new contract which was made at the time typical for renewals of multi-year talent contracts, added protections of the company specifically aimed at harassment, including that Mr.O’Reilly could be dismissed if the company was made aware of other allegations of if additional relevant information was obtained in a company investigation. The company subsequently acted based on the terms of this contract.”

O’Reilly’s spokesman Mark Fabiani told NBC News, “Here are the facts: after the Chairman of Fox News Roger Ailes was fired in July 2015, dozens of women accused scores of male employees of Fox News of harassment — including the current co-president of Fox News Jack Abernathy. 21st Century Fox settled almost all of these cases, paying out close to $100 million. Six months after Mr. Ailes left the company, Fox News Corporation signed Bill O’Reilly to a record breaking new contract after the company had analyzed and considered the allegations against him.”

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