NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly (all times local):
1:42 p.m.
Shares of Fox News’ parent company, 21st Century Fox, were gaining ground following the firing of longtime and top-rated segment host Bill O’Reilly.
Shares were up 63 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $30.44 in Thursday afternoon trading. The stock fell 1 percent to close at $29.81 on Wednesday. It is still down more than 4 percent since an April 1 report in The New York Times that five women had been paid a total of $13 million to keep quiet about disturbing encounters with O’Reilly.
O’Reilly was fired Wednesday amid a string of sexual harassment allegations. His show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” gained some of the highest ratings in cable news and was a key advertising revenue generator for Fox.
21st Century Fox’s other holdings include 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, FX Networks and National Geographic Channel.
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1:40 p.m.
A day after his ouster from Fox News over allegations of sexual harassment, Bill O’Reilly remains a popular author on Amazon.com.
O’Reilly’s “Old School” ranked No. 18 on Amazon’s best-seller list as of midday Thursday and has been a top seller since its publication three weeks ago. The book, ironically, includes advice from O’Reilly on treating women with respect. Other works by the conservative commentator also are faring well. “Killing the Rising Sun,” a release last fall about the allied defeat of Japan in World War II, was No. 92. “Killing Patton” was No. 687, an impressive ranking for a hardcover book that came out in 2014.
O’Reilly has another “Killing” book scheduled for September, although the subject hasn’t been announced. O’Reilly is one of the country’s most successful nonfiction authors, but his upcoming book could be a test of his reading audience without the Fox News platform to promote his work. Henry Holt and Company has said it has no changes planned in its publication schedule for O’Reilly.
O’Reilly was fired by Fox on Wednesday after a report earlier this month that five women were paid $13 million in settlements after they alleged he has sexually harassed or mistreated them.
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1:31 p.m.
One of Bill O’Reilly’s accusers says she felt triumphant when the Fox News Channel host was fired following an investigation into claims of harassment by women.
Perquita Burgess, a former clerical worker at Fox, went on “The View” Thursday to talk about encounters with O’Reilly nine years ago. Burgess first made her complaint public on Tuesday through attorney Lisa Bloom but did so anonymously. Now she’s come forward to be identified. Burgess, who is black, says O’Reilly leered at her and made grunting noises when he passed her desk and once referred to her as “hot chocolate.”
Seeing O’Reilly lose his job because of actions against women felt very cathartic, she said.
O’Reilly was fired Wednesday after reports that he’d sexually harassed women over a period of years.