Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly blasted Bill O’Reilly on the TODAY Show on Monday, calling out the fired Fox News host for saying that “no one” complained about his sexually aggressive behavior.
Megyn, it turns out, did — and she told viewers that while she was still employed at Fox News, she spoke to superiors about other women’s experiences with O’Reilly, and they did nothing to help her or the women she says he harassed.
“O’Reilly’s suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false,” Kelly said. “I know because I complained.”
“O’Reilly’s suggestion that no one ever complained about his behavior is false. I know because I complained.” @megynkelly on Bill O’Reilly pic.twitter.com/BO8ifQcJbu
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 23, 2017
Kelly went on to say that she wrote an email to then-Fox News co-Presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy, complaining about O’Reilly’s behavior in November of 2016. According to the TODAY Show, which printed the contents of the email after Kelly mentioned it on her show, Kelly took Fox leadership to task for failing to control one of their stars — and for abetting Roger Ailes’ own alleged sexual harassment.
“Perhaps he didn’t realize the kind of message his criticism sent to young women across this country about how men continue to view the issue of speaking out about sexual harassment,” Kelly wrote. “Perhaps he didn’t realize that his exact attitude of shaming women into shutting the hell up about harassment on grounds that it will disgrace the company is in part how Fox News got into the decade-long Ailes mess to begin with.
“Perhaps it’s his own history of harassment with women, which has, as you both know, resulted in payouts to more than one woman, including recently, that blinded him to the folly of saying anything other than, ‘I’m just so sorry for the women of this company who never should’ve had to go through that,” Kelly continued.
Ultimately, Kelly blamed the hostile work environment of Fox News for letting the abuse go on for so long.
Kelly’s exposé comes hot on the heels of news that O’Reilly paid a whopping $32 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl in January. After he cut the check, Fox News signed O’Reilly to a new contract — only to fire him in April, after the New York Times reported that five more women had accused the primetime political pundit of sexual harassment.