Former Fox News star Bill O’Reilly went ballistic and threatened a PBS host after she questioned him over the sexual harassment claims that led to his ousting at the network.
Margaret Hoover, host of the PBS show Firing Line, sat down for an interview with O’Reilly on Tuesday to promote his new book Confronting the Presidents.
But the interview went haywire when Hoover asked him about the more than $40 million shelled out over sexual harassment claims while he was at the network.
‘I’d be a fool to dredge that up,’ Reilly fumed after refusing to comment, then affirmed, ‘You know nothing about it.’
Hoover, a Fox News contributor and guest on The O’Reilly Factor during 2007 to 2011, responded, ‘I know about the culture I experienced at Fox News.’
‘All right. That’s enough,’ an exasperated O’Reilly said as he raised his hands and walked off the set while telling her, ‘you’re in for a problem.’
Margaret Hoover, who hosts Firing Line on PBS is pictured interviewing former Fox host and American conservative commentator, Bill O’ Reilly
At one point during the interview, O’Reilly is seen with both hands in the air saying, ‘All right. That’s enough’
The former Fox host worked at the network for more than two decades before he was fired after The New York Times reported on the private settlements.
A staggering $13 million and an additional settlement worth $32 million went to women who accused him of sexual harassment when he was at the network.
The heated exchange began about 30-minutes into the one-on-one, with O’Reilly telling his former Fox co-worker that she did not know the facts of the allegations against him.
He alleged he had made no settlements himself and that he was unaware of any actions taken by Fox News, but Hoover did not buy it.
Bill O’Reilly was ensnared in a sexual harassment scandal while at Fox News
At one point, Hoover, began reading the 2017 New York Times op-ed she wrote that applauded his firing from Fox.
‘Instead Mr. O’Reilly blamed others, embracing the victimization he so ridiculed of the American left. He claimed his departure was no fault of his own, but the cost of doing business as a high profile media personality,’ she recited.
‘This is an outlandish claim. William F. Buckley and Anderson Cooper are high-profile media personalities, and yet, they have never been dogged with repeated sexual harassment entanglements.’
When she asked her guest how he responded, he said ‘I don’t,’ and later accused Hoover of a conducting an ‘ambush interview,’ though Hoover alleged that her subject had anticipated that she would bring up the cheeky topic.
Hoover was dogmatic in her questioning during the interview
Before O’Reilly left the set, he advised Hoover not to air the exchange.
‘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,’ O’Reilly said.
“I’m not going to record any phony crap like that. You’re going to edit this thing and, you know, my attorney is going to be watching.’
On Wednesday, O’Reilly’s attorney sent a legal demand to WNET, the parent company of PBS.
She didn’t appear ruffled despite O’Reilly’s reactions to her questions
Hoover told Mediate her reaction to their sit-down adding that after hosting the PBS show for seven years, O’Reilly was the first guest who didn’t ‘formally finish the interview through the goodbyes.’
‘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,’ she said.
She further stated: ‘Clearly, he was uncomfortable fielding questions related to the sexual harassment allegations that are a significant part of his legacy.
‘I also gave him the opportunity to comment on legislation intended to give victims of sexual harassment additional legal power and the evolution of workplace culture, and he declined,’ she told the news outlet.
On Friday, hours before the interview is slated to air, Hoover did a teaser and posted a clip from their interview on X, formerly Twitter.
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