Bill O'Reilly, Sexual Harassment And Buying Silence

Published April 9, 2018 at 10:00 AM CDT

In this April 6, 2016, file photo, Bill O'Reilly attends The Hollywood Reporter's "35 Most Powerful People in Media" celebration in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

New revelations about settlements Bill O’Reilly paid a lot of money to keep secret. And the new pressures to sweep out non-disclosure agreements.

Guests:

Emily Steel, reporter on the media industry for the New York Times. ( @emilysteel)

Nancy Erika Smith, the attorney at Smith Mullin who represented Gretchen Carlson in her harassment lawsuit against the former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. ( @nancyerikasmith)

Debra Katz, civil rights employment lawyer at Katz, Marshall & Banks in Washington. ( @debrakatzkmb)

From The Reading List:

New York Times: How Bill O’Reilly Silenced His Accusers — “Settlement agreements between Bill O’Reilly and two of his accusers — made public for the first time on Wednesday — filled in previously unknown details about tactics employed by the former Fox News host to silence women who came forward with sexual harassment allegations against him.”

The current #MeToo era was ushered in by outrage over revelations about the conduct of media stars… the late Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein… and Fox’s Bill O’Reilly… all had paid millions to keep allegations of sexual harassment secret. Now, details of what O’Reilly required in exchange for those millions are public.

This hour, On Point, Fox News, #MeToo and the future of these non-disclosure agreements.

— David Folkenflik