Before Bill O'Reilly announced his resignation with Fox New Channel, the conservative commentator's legal team were ready to make one final move: alerting 21st Century Fox of a leftist agenda to get the TV host fired from his job.
According to emails obtained by POLITICO, O'Reilly and his legal team were aware of Democratic fundraiser Mary Pat Bonner's attempts to get advertisers to pull out of time slots during "The O'Reilly Factor." Bonner, an ally of Media Matters, called the effort the "advertiser education campaign."
Two conference calls were scheduled between Bonner, Media Matters president Angelo Carusone and a number of unknown people, who were redacted in the email provided to POLITICO. The focus of the calls were to discuss the success of the campaign thus far and how to proceed moving forward.
From POLITICO:
To O'Reilly's camp, it was evidence of a left-wing plot to oust the profit-making anchor and conservative media star, who maintains that the sexual harassment allegations against him, including $13 million worth of settlements first reported by The New York Times on April 1, are "unfounded."
O'Reilly was against sending the email to 21st Century Fox executives, despite his legal team's belief the network could be persuaded.
To O'Reilly's camp, it was evidence of a left-wing plot to oust the profit-making anchor and conservative media star, who maintains that the sexual harassment allegations against him, including $13 million worth of settlements first reported by The New York Times on April 1, are "unfounded."
According to O'Reilly's attorneys, the email is the latest evidence proving the cable network star was under attack by left-wing activists and media.
“This is not based off of an outrage moment, but rather, it’s responsive to a deep pattern of sexual harassment,” Media Matters president Angelo Carusone told POLITICO. “It doesn’t have a political partisan lens, the way maybe a comment around an individual would have or a statement that some people may find outrageous and others may not. This is about behavior that is universally wrong.”
O'Reilly's exit deal from Fox News Channel is said to be valued at $25 million. Fox swiftly announced their new lineup after O'Reilly's announcement.