After Caught Bragging About Sexual Assault, Man Will Talk With Different Man Facing Sexual Harassment Allegations

A Donald Trump Interview Will Air On The O’Reilly Factor, On A Network That Ousted Its Founder Over Decades Of Alleged Sexual Harassment

Written by Bobby Lewis

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Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who was recently accused of sexual harassment by former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros, announced “a Factor world exclusive” with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who would give his “first interview after the debate and the Access Hollywood situation,” referring to a tape in which Trump admitted to committing sexual assault, to The O’Reilly Factor. 

On October 7, MSNBC released video of Donald Trump bragging that his star power allowed him to do whatever he wants to women, with or without their consent. While members of the media condemned Trump’s comments, noting that he was admitting to “sexual assault,” O’Reilly rushed to dismiss the tape as “guy talk,” instead choosing to attack The Washington Post.

In his first televised appearance since news of the tape broke, Trump has continued his retreat to Fox News, choosing to speak with O’Reilly who was recently accused of sexual harassment by Tantaros who alleges that O’Reilly invited her to a “very private” stay on Long Island with him and had posited on more than one occasion that she was “wild.”

Furthermore, in 2004 O’Reilly was the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by then-Fox producer Andrea Mackris, which alleged that O’Reilly made “a series of explicit phone calls to her, advised her to use a vibrator and told her about sexual fantasies involving her.” O’Reilly settled the lawsuit in 2004. According to CBS, “The New York Daily News, citing unidentified sources, reported that O'Reilly had agreed to pay Mackris anywhere from $2 million to $10 million."

Beyond accusations leveled at O’Reilly, Fox News itself has recently come under intense criticism for a pervasive culture of sexual harassment. On July 6, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit against then-Fox CEO, and current Trump adviser, Roger Ailes. Carlson alleged that Ailes fired her after she rebuffed several unwanted sexual advances. Carlson’s lawsuit led other women at Fox to come forward with similar allegations, culminating in Ailes’ resignation from the network 15 days later. Following the ouster of Ailes, Fox News promoted Bill Shine, an executive who helped cover up Ailes’ decades of abuse, which others said demonstrated that sexual harassment “is pervasive at Fox” and their internal investigation was little more than a PR stunt.