William James O'Reilly Jr.
(born September 10, 1949) is an American
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
commentator, journalist, author, and television host.
O'Reilly's broadcasting career began during the late 1970s and 1980s, when he reported for local television stations in the United States and later for
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
and
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
, the former of which earned O'Reilly two
Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
and two National Headliner Awards for excellence in reporting. He anchored the
tabloid television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
program ''
Inside Edition
''Inside Edition'' is an American tabloid television program that is distributed in Broadcast syndication, first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine progr ...
'' from 1989 to 1995. O'Reilly joined the
Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
in 1996 and hosted the news commentary program ''
The O'Reilly Factor
''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'' until 2017. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' had been the highest-rated cable news show for 16 years, and he was described by media analyst
Howard Kurtz as "the biggest star in the 20-year history at Fox News" at the time of his departure.
During his time at Fox News, he appeared several times as a guest on the
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
talk show ''
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
''. Together he and
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...
debated for a charity event, ''
The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium'' at
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
in 2012. O'Reilly interviewed President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
before
Super Bowl XLVIII
Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...
in 2014. He co-authored with
Martin Dugard numerous
''The New York Times'' bestselling historical novels including ''
Killing Lincoln
''Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever'' is a book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard concerning the 1865 assassination of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. The book was released on September 27, 2011, and is t ...
'' (2011), ''
Killing Kennedy'' (2012), ''
Killing Jesus'' (2013), and ''
Killing Reagan'' (2015), which were adapted into
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
television films in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
,
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
,
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, and
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
. Two of the films earned O'Reilly nominations for two
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
. He also hosted ''
The Radio Factor'' from 2002 to 2009.
In 2017, O'Reilly was dismissed from
Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
following a report by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that he had settled five lawsuits involving
sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...
.
[ Since then, O'Reilly has hosted the ''No Spin News'' podcast where it has also expanded into a television program, first airing on Newsmax, then on The First. He also makes appearances on ]NewsNation
NewsNation is an American cable news network owned by Nexstar Media Group. Known for most of its history as Superstation WGN before becoming WGN America in 2008, it relaunched on March 1, 2021, as a cable news network named after its flagship n ...
frequently, discussing political topics that arise.
Early life and education
O'Reilly was born on September 10, 1949, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the northern part of the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is named for Fort Washington (Manhattan), Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the Bennett Park (Ne ...
to parents William James Sr. and Winifred Angela (née Drake) O'Reilly from Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
and Teaneck, New Jersey, respectively. He is of Irish descent with a small degree of English ( Colonial American) ancestry. Some of his father's ancestors lived in County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...
, Ireland, since the early eighteenth century, and on his mother's side he has ancestry from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. The O'Reilly family lived in a small apartment in Fort Lee, New Jersey, when their son was born. In 1951, his family moved to Levittown
Levittown is the name of several large suburban housing developments created in the United States (including one in Puerto Rico) by William J. Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built after World War II for returning white veterans and thei ...
on Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. O'Reilly has a sister, Janet.
O'Reilly attended St. Brigid parochial school in Westbury and Chaminade High School, a private Catholic boys high school, in Mineola. His father wanted him to attend Chaminade, but O'Reilly wanted to attend W. Tresper Clarke High School, the public school most of his closest friends would attend. He played Little League baseball and was the goalie on the Chaminade varsity hockey team. During his high school years, he met future singer Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...
, whom O'Reilly described as a "hoodlum". O'Reilly recollected in an interview with Michael Kay on the YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
show ''CenterStage'' that Joel "was in the Hicksville section—the same age as me—and he was a hood. He used to slick it is hairback like this. And we knew him, because his guys would smoke and this and that, and we were more jocks."
After graduating from Chaminade in 1967, O'Reilly attended Marist College
Marist University is a private university in Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Marist was founded by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute, in 1905 to prepare brothers for their ...
in Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...
. While at Marist, he was a punter in the National Club Football Association
The National Club Football Association (NCFA) is an association of collegiate American football teams. It is a member of CollClubSports and manages the National Club Football Association#NCFA National Championship, NCFA National Championship.
NCF ...
and also wrote for the school's newspaper, ''The Circle''. He was an honors student who majored in history. He spent his junior year of college abroad, attending Queen Mary College at the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1971. He played semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...
baseball during this time as a pitcher for the New York Monarchs. After graduating from Marist College, O'Reilly moved to Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
where he taught English and history at Monsignor Pace High School from 1970 to 1972. He returned to school in 1973 and earned a Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
from Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
. While attending Boston University, he was a reporter and columnist for various local newspapers and alternative news weeklies, including the ''Boston Phoenix
''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...
'', and did an internship
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...
in the newsroom of WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...
. In 1995, he attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and received a master of public administration
A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...
degree in 1996.
Marist College had bestowed an honorary degree upon O'Reilly, which would later be revoked once the sexual abuse allegations came to light.
Broadcasting career
1973–1980: Early career
O'Reilly's early television news career included reporting and anchoring positions at WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
, where he also reported the weather. At WFAA-TV in Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, O'Reilly was awarded the Dallas Press Club Award for excellence in investigative reporting
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...
. He then moved to KMGH-TV
KMGH-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Sterling-licensed independent station KCDO-TV, channel 3 (and its Denver-based translator ...
in Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, where he won a local Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for his coverage of a skyjacking. O'Reilly also worked for WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
from 1979 to 1980. In 1980, O'Reilly anchored the local news-feature program ''7:30 Magazine'' at WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...
in New York. Soon after, as a WCBS News anchor and correspondent, he won his second local Emmy, which was for an investigation of corrupt city marshals.
1982–1986: ''CBS News'' and return to local television
In 1982, he became a CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
correspondent, covering the wars in El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
on location and in the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
from his base in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Argentina. O'Reilly left CBS over a dispute concerning the uncredited use in a report by Bob Schieffer of footage of a riot in response to the military junta's surrender shot by O'Reilly's crew in Buenos Aires shortly after the conclusion of the war.
After departing CBS News in 1982, O'Reilly joined WNEV-TV (now WHDH) in Boston, as a weekday reporter, weekend anchor and later as host of the station's local news magazine ''New England Afternoon''. In 1984, O'Reilly went to KATU in Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, where he remained for nine months, then he returned to Boston and joined WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue in ...
as reporter and columnist-at-large for ''NewsCenter 5''.
1986–1989: ''ABC News''
In 1986, O'Reilly moved to ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
, where, during his three-year tenure, he received two Emmy Awards and two National Headliner Awards for excellence in reporting. He had delivered a eulogy for his friend Joe Spencer, an ABC News correspondent who died in a helicopter crash on January 22, 1986, en route to covering the 1985–86 Hormel strike. ABC News president Roone Arledge
Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise ...
, who attended Spencer's funeral, decided to hire O'Reilly after hearing the eulogy. At ABC, O'Reilly hosted daytime news briefs that previewed stories to be reported on the day's '' World News Tonight'' and worked as a general assignment reporter for ABC News programs, including ''Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'', ''Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...
'', and ''World News Tonight''.
1989–1995: ''Inside Edition''
In 1989, O'Reilly joined the nationally syndicated King World (now CBS Television Distribution
CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Paramount Domestic Television and CBS Television Distribution) is the television broadcast syndication arm of CBS Studios, a division of the CBS Entertainment Group, in turn a division of Paramount Global, ...
)-produced ''Inside Edition
''Inside Edition'' is an American tabloid television program that is distributed in Broadcast syndication, first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine progr ...
'', a tabloid-gossip television program in competition with '' A Current Affair''. He became the program's anchor three weeks into its run after the involvement of original anchor David Frost
Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...
had ended.
In 1995, former NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
anchor Deborah Norville replaced O'Reilly on ''Inside Edition''; O'Reilly had expressed a desire to quit the show in July 1994.
Viral video
On May 12, 2008, an outtake of O'Reilly ranting during his time at ''Inside Edition'' surfaced on YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. The early 1990s video depicts O'Reilly yelling and cursing at his co-workers while having issues pre-recording the closing lines on his teleprompter
A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script.
Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually bel ...
, eventually yelling the phrase "Fuck it, we'll do it live!" before continuing the closing segment to his show. The original video, titled "Bill O'Reilly Flips Out," was removed, but another user uploaded it once again the day after and retitled it "Bill O'Reilly Goes Nuts". Immediately after the video surfaced, O'Reilly acknowledged the video's existence, claiming that he was amusing his co-workers and said "I have plenty of much newer stuff... If you want to buy the tapes that I have, I'm happy to sell them to you."[ The rant was later parodied by ]Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
on ''The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...
'' as well as ''Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'' and by Trevor Noah on ''The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...
'', and was named one of ''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''s "Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns". In October 2008, Wednesday 13 named his first live album after a line in the rant. In 2009, a "dance remix" of O'Reilly's rant was nominated for a Webby Award
The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...
for "Best Viral Video" but lost to "The Website Is Down: Sales Guy vs. Web Dude".
1996–2017: ''The O'Reilly Factor''
In October 1996, O'Reilly was hired by Roger Ailes
Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republic ...
, chairman and CEO of the then startup Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ow ...
, to anchor ''The O'Reilly Report''.
The show was renamed ''The O'Reilly Factor
''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'' after his friend and branding expert John Tantillo's remarks upon the "O'Reilly Factor" in any of the stories he told. The program was routinely the highest-rated show of the three major U.S. 24-hour news cycle, 24-hour cable news
Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television.
In the United States, the first nationwide ca ...
television channels and began the trend toward more opinion-oriented prime-time cable news programming. The show was taped late in the afternoon at a studio in New York City and aired every weekday on the Fox News Channel at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico.
* Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...
and was rebroadcast at 11:00 p.m.
Progressive media monitoring organizations such as Media Matters
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...
and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting have criticized his reporting on a variety of issues, accusing him of distorting facts and using misleading or erroneous statistics. In 2008, citing numerous inaccuracies in his reporting, MediaMatters for America awarded him its first annual "Misinformer of the Year" award.
After the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, O'Reilly accused the United Way of America
United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual United Ways mobilize a sin ...
and American Red Cross
The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
of failing to deliver millions of dollars in donated money, raised by the organizations in the name of the disaster, to the families of those killed in the attacks. He reported that the organizations misrepresented their intentions for the money being raised by not distributing all of the 9/11 relief fund to the victims. Actor George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...
responded, accusing him of misstating facts and harming the relief effort by inciting "panic" among potential donors. On August 27, 2002, O'Reilly called for all Americans to boycott Pepsi
Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
products, saying that lyrics of Ludacris
Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...
(then appearing in ads for Pepsi) glamorize a "life of guns, violence, drugs and disrespect of women". The next day, O'Reilly reported that Pepsi had fired Ludacris. Two years later, Ludacris referenced O'Reilly in the song " Number One Spot" with the lyrics "Respected highly, hi, Mr. O'Reilly/Hope all is well, kiss the plaintiff and the wifey," in reference to his sexual-harassment suit with Andrea Mackris while married. In an interview with RadarOnline.com in 2010, Ludacris said he and O'Reilly had made amends after a conversation at a charity event.
Speaking on ABC's ''Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' on March 18, 2003, he promised that " the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
and it's clean f weapons of mass destructionnbsp;... I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again." In another appearance on the same program on February 10, 2004, he responded to repeated requests for him to honor his pledge: "My analysis was wrong and I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm not pleased about it at all." With regard to his trust in the government, he said, "I am much more skeptical of the Bush administration now than I was at that time."
Beginning in 2005, he periodically denounced George Tiller, a Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
-based physician who specialized in second- and third-trimester abortions, often referring to him as "Tiller the baby killer". Tiller was murdered
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...
on May 31, 2009, by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...
activist. Critics such as ''Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
''s Gabriel Winant have asserted that his anti-Tiller rhetoric helped to create an atmosphere of violence around the doctor. Jay Bookman of ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...
'' wrote that O'Reilly "clearly went overboard in his condemnation and demonization of Tiller" but added that it was "irresponsible to link O'Reilly" to Tiller's murder. O'Reilly responded to the criticism by saying "no backpedaling here ... every single thing we said about Tiller was true."
In early 2007, researchers from the Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
School of Journalism published a report that analyzed his "Talking Points Memo" segment. Using analysis techniques developed in the 1930s by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis
The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) was a U.S.-based organization operating from 1937 to 1942, composed of social scientists, opinion leaders, historians, educators, and journalists. Created by Kirtley Mather, Edward A. Filene, and Clyde R ...
, the study concluded that he used propaganda, frequently engaged in name calling, and consistently cast non-Americans as threats and never "in the role of victim or hero". He responded, asserting that "the terms 'conservative', 'liberal', 'left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
', 'right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
', ' progressive', 'traditional' and 'centrist
Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
' were considered name-calling if they were associated with a problem or social ill." The study's authors said that those terms were only considered name-calling when linked to derogatory qualifiers.[Mike Conway, Maria Elizabeth Grabe and Kevin Grieves, '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''
''Bill O'Reilly and Krippendorff's Alpha''
, May 16, 2007. Retrieved May 18, 2007. Fox News producer Ron Mitchell wrote an op-ed in which he accused the study's authors of seeking to manipulate their research to fit a predetermined outcome. Mitchell argued that by using tools developed for examining propaganda, the researchers presupposed that he propagandized.
On April 19, 2017, Fox News announced that O'Reilly would not return to their primetime lineup amid public reporting on the tens of millions of dollars he paid to settle the sexual harassment claims of six women. The show continued, rebranded as ''The Factor'', now hosted by Dana Perino.[ On the same day, Fox announced that Tucker Carlson's show would be airing an hour earlier to take over O'Reilly's position and that ''The Five'' will replace Carlson's usual time at 9 p.m. with a new co-host, Jesse Watters. After O'Reilly was fired, the financial markets responded positively to the decision by Fox News, and its parent company ]21st Century Fox
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed on June 28, 2013, as the legal successor ...
rose over two percent in the stock market the next day.
Departure from Fox News
In April 2017, ''The New York Times'' reported that Fox News and O'Reilly had settled five lawsuits involving women who accused O'Reilly of misconduct. After the settlements were reported, ''The O'Reilly Factor'' lost more than half its advertisers within a week; almost 60 companies withdrew their television advertising
A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
from the show amid a growing backlash against O'Reilly. On April 11, O'Reilly announced he would take a two-week vacation and would return to the program on April 24; he normally took a vacation around Easter. On April 19, Fox News announced that O'Reilly would not be returning to the network.[ The program was subsequently renamed ''The Factor'' on April 19 and aired its last episode on April 21.
O'Reilly later stated his regret that he did not "fight back" against his accusers the way ]Sean Hannity
Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...
did when facing the loss of advertisers around the same time.
2017–present: Post-Fox News career
O'Reilly launched a podcast called ''No Spin News'' on April 24, 2017, after his departure from Fox News. In August 2017, O'Reilly began digitally streaming a video version of ''No Spin News''. In May 2017, O'Reilly began to appear as a recurring guest on Friday editions of the '' Glenn Beck Radio Program''. In June 2017, O'Reilly and Dennis Miller co-headlined the public speaking tour, "The Spin Stops Here".
O'Reilly made his first appearance on Fox News since his ouster on September 26, 2017, being interviewed by Sean Hannity
Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...
. In 2019, O'Reilly started a 15-minute radio show, ''The O'Reilly Update''. By 2020, simulcasts of O'Reilly's ''No Spin News'' show began to air on Newsmax TV. ''No Spin News'' began airing on The First TV
The First, also called The First TV and stylized as The F1rst, is a conservative opinion and commentary network in the United States started in October 2019. It has five hosts, including Bill O'Reilly.
History
The First was launched in Octob ...
in June 2020. O'Reilly participated in a speaking tour with former president Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
in December 2021, which he said " rovideda never before heard inside view of his administration".
Other ventures
Newspaper column
O'Reilly wrote a weekly syndicated newspaper column through Creators Syndicate
Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...
that appeared in numerous newspapers, including the ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative
daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' and the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
''. He discontinued the column at the end of 2013.
Radio work
From 2002 to 2009, he hosted a radio program called '' The Radio Factor'' that had more than 3.26 million listeners and was carried by more than 400 radio stations. According to the talk radio industry publication '' Talkers Magazine'', he was No. 11 on the "Heavy Hundred," a list of the 100 most important talk show hosts in America.
In 2019, O'Reilly returned to radio with a daily 15-minute series ''The O'Reilly Update''. The program airs during or near lunch hour on most stations in a time slot previously used by Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
. In September 2020, O'Reilly began hosting a daily radio show on 77WABC titled ''Common Sense with Bill O'Reilly''.
''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''
From 2001 to 2015, O'Reilly appeared on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
'' fifteen times. Stewart also appeared as a guest various times on ''The O'Reilly Factor''. In 2011, Stewart described O'Reilly as "the voice of reason on Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
", comparing him to "the thinnest kid at fat camp".
In 2012, Stewart joined O'Reilly in a debate for charity entitled, '' The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium'' at George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' remarked that O'Reilly and Stewart "have been guests on each other's programs since 2001" but "rarely agree on anything except their mutual respect for each other". In 2014, Stewart debated him on the belief of white privilege. During the debate O'Reilly exclaimed, "You think I'm sitting here because I'm white? What are you, a moron? I'm sitting here because I'm obnoxious, not because I'm white!".
In 2015, O'Reilly briefly appeared on Stewart's final show as host of ''The Daily Show
''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...
''. O'Reilly joked, "Have fun feeding your rabbits, quitter!" O'Reilly also wrote a lengthy appreciation for Stewart in ''Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...
'' writing, " tewartwill leave a void in the world of political satire. Undeniably, Jon Stewart was great at what he did. Whatever that was."
In 2024, when Stewart returned to ''The Daily Show'' for the 2024 United States presidential election
United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...
, he invited O'Reilly to appear on the show following the assassination attempt on former President and candidate Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
.
Film and television
O'Reilly made cameo appearances in the films '' An American Carol'' (2008), '' Iron Man 2'' (2010), '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' (2011) and '' Man Down'' (2015).
In 2010, he famously appeared on '' The View'', where they asked O'Reilly his opinion on whether to remove the mosque near the 9/11 memorial site. O'Reilly responded saying, that he believed they should and during the heated discussion stated, "Muslims killed us on 9/11" to which Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...
and Joy Behar walked off the set. Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters (September 25, 1929December 30, 2022) was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, ...
chided the other hosts, and stated, "You have just seen what should not happen. We should be able to have discussions without washing our hands and screaming and walking off stage. I love my colleagues, but that should not have happened." He also made appearances on various talk and late night shows including, ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
'', '' The Late Show with David Letterman'', '' The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon'', '' Jimmy Kimmel Live'', and ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...
''.
In 2013, he appeared at the Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to Culture of the United States, American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in ...
ceremony where he gave tribute to jazz musician Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...
. O'Reilly's unexpected presence was not lost on the audience, as his appearance elicited audible gasps from the crowd to which O'Reilly responded, "I know I'm surprised too." During his tribute to Hancock, O'Reilly stated, "Herbie is a true gentleman. His fame and his skill reflect the values of that have made this country great...It's that embracing of what is good in mankind that that infuses Hancock's music and makes him a national icon."
O'Reilly was an executive producer on many television projects including on made for television films based upon his books. This includes films, ''Killing Lincoln
''Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever'' is a book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard concerning the 1865 assassination of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. The book was released on September 27, 2011, and is t ...
'' (2013), '' Killing Kennedy'' (2013), '' Killing Jesus'' (2015), and '' Killing Reagan'' (2016) which aired on National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
. O'Reilly received two Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
nominations for Outstanding Television Movie for ''Killing Kennedy'' and ''Killing Jesus''. From 2015 to 2018, O'Reilly also served as an executive producer on the documentary series, '' Legends & Lies''.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
Over his career O'Reilly has received numerous accoaldes for his work as a reporter and television journalist. In Dallas, O'Reilly won a Dallas Press Club Award and he received an Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for his coverage of a skyjacking while working in Denver. He also received two National Headliner Awards. In 1980, he became an anchor and correspondent for WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...
in New York, where he earned a second Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
. He earned a Master of the Arts degree in broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
in 1973 from Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
and a master's degree in public administration
Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...
from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1995. For his work in entertainment television he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
.
Political views and media coverage
On ''The O'Reilly Factor'' and on his former talk-radio program, O'Reilly focused on news and commentary related to politics and culture. O'Reilly has long said that he does not identify with any political ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...
, writing in his book ''The O'Reilly Factor'' that the reader "might be wondering whether I'm conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
, liberal, libertarian
Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
, or exactly what ... See, I don't want to fit any of those labels, because I believe that the truth doesn't have labels. When I see corruption, I try to expose it. When I see exploitation, I try to fight it. That's my political position." On December 6, 2000, the '' Daily News'' in New York reported, however, that he had been registered with the Republican Party in the state of New York since 1994. When questioned about this, he said that he was not aware of it and says he registered as an independent after the interview. During a broadcast of ''The Radio Factor'', O'Reilly said that there was no option to register as an independent voter; however, there was in fact a box marked "I do not wish to enroll in party." Despite his remarks, many view him as a conservative figure. A February 2009 Pew Research poll found that 66% of his television viewers identify themselves as conservative, 24% moderate, and 3% liberal. A November 2008 poll by Zogby International found that O'Reilly was the second most trusted news personality, after Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...
.
In a 2003 interview with Terry Gross
Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NP ...
on National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, O'Reilly said:
On a September 2007 edition of '' The Radio Factor'', while having a discussion about race with fellow Fox News commentator and author Juan Williams about a meal he shared with Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights and social justice activist, Baptists, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality, who is also the founder of the National Action Network civil rig ...
, O'Reilly said "You know when Sharpton and I walked in, it was like... big commotion and everything. But everybody was very nice. And I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's Restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship." He commented that no one in Sylvia's was "screaming 'M'Fer, I want more iced tea.'" He further added, "I think that black Americans are starting to think more and more for themselves, getting away from the Sharptons and the Jacksons and people trying to lead them into a race-based culture. They're just trying to figure it out. 'Look, I can make it. If I work hard and get educated, I can make it.'" The statement drew criticism from a number of places. Roland S. Martin of CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
said that the notion that black people are just now starting to value education is "ridiculous" and that the notion that black people let Sharpton or Jackson think for them is "nuts". Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...
covered the story on a number of occasions. O'Reilly responded, saying, "It was an attempt to tell the radio audience that there is no difference—black, white, we're all Americans. The stereotypes they see on television are not true" and also called out Media Matters, claiming that "Media Matters distorted the entire conversation and implied I was racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
for condemning racism." Juan Williams said the criticism of O'Reilly was "rank dishonesty" and that the original comments "had nothing to do with racist ranting by anybody except by these idiots at CNN." Williams went on to say it was "frustrating" that the media try to criticize anyone who wanted to have an honest discussion about race. In July 2016, Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
spoke of what it was like to live "in a house that was built by slaves" in reference to her time in the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, with O'Reilly responding the slaves "were well-fed and had decent lodgings". Following criticism he defended his comment by stating that the nation's first president provided slaves with "meat, bread and other staples".
O'Reilly has long said that his inspiration for speaking up for average Americans is his working-class roots. He has pointed to his boyhood home in Levittown, New York
Levittown is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Hempstead (town), New York, Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York. It is a suburb of New York C ...
, as a credential. In an interview with ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', O'Reilly's mother said that her family lived in Westbury, which is a few miles from Levittown. Citing this interview, then liberal talk-show pundit Al Franken
Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...
accused O'Reilly of distorting his background to create a more working-class image. O'Reilly countered that ''The Washington Post'' misquoted his mother and that his mother still lives in his childhood home which was built by William Levitt. O'Reilly placed a copy of the house's mortgage on his website; the mortgage shows a Levittown postal address. O'Reilly has also said, "You don't come from any lower than I came from on an economic scale" and that his father, a currency accountant for an oil company, "never earned more than $35,000 a year in his life". O'Reilly responded that his father's $35,000 income only came at the end of his long career.
He was the main inspiration for comedian Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
's satirical character on the Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
show ''The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...
'', which featured Colbert in a "full-dress parody" of ''The Factor''. On the show, Colbert referred to him as "Papa Bear". He and Colbert exchanged appearances on each other's shows in January 2007.
On May 10, 2008, he was presented with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...
Governors' Award at an Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
awards show dinner.
Disputed claims
George de Mohrenschildt claim
In his bestselling 2013 book '' Killing Kennedy'' and on ''Fox and Friends'', O'Reilly claimed he was knocking at the front door of George de Mohrenschildt's daughter's home at the moment Mohrenschildt committed suicide and that he heard the shotgun blast:
In March of 1977, a young television reporter at WFAA in Dallas began looking into the Kennedy assassination. As part of his reporting, he sought an interview with the shadowy Russian professor who had befriended the Oswalds upon their arrival in Dallas in 1962. The reporter traced George de Mohrenschildt to Palm Beach, Florida and traveled there to confront him. At the time de Mohrenschildt had been called to testify before a congressional committee looking into the events of November 1963. As the reporter knocked on the door of de Mohrenschildt's daughter's home, he heard the shotgun blast that marked the suicide of the Russian, assuring that his relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963.
Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...
would never be fully understood.
By the way, that reporter's name is Bill O'Reilly.
This claim has been disproven by Jefferson Morley, former editor of ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', who cites audio recordings made by Gaeton Fonzi indicating O'Reilly was not present in Florida on the day of Mohrenschildt's suicide.
War coverage claims
On February 19, 2015, David Corn from '' Mother Jones'' broke a story reporting a collection of inconsistencies of O'Reilly when recalling his experience covering the 1982 Falklands War
The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
. On April 17, 2013, O'Reilly said on his show: "I was in a situation one time, in a war zone in Argentina, in the Falklands, (...)". In his book, ''The No Spin Zone'', he wrote: "You know that I am not easily shocked. I've reported on the ground in active war zones from El Salvador to the Falklands." On a 2004 column on his website he wrote: "Having survived a combat situation in Argentina during the Falklands war, I know that life-and-death decisions are made in a flash." Corn claimed O'Reilly was not in the Falklands, but was in Buenos Aires, and that no American journalist was in the Islands during the conflict. He also pointed out that according to O'Reilly's own book, ''The No Spin Zone'', he arrived in Buenos Aires soon before the war ended. On February 20, 2015, O'Reilly said on his show, "David Corn, a liar, says that I exaggerated situations in the Falklands War" and that he never said he was on the Falkland Islands. O'Reilly went on to describe his experience in a riot in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
the day Argentina surrendered. Corn replied that he did not claim O'Reilly "exaggerated", but rather that there were contradictions between his accounts and the factual record, and that the 2013 clip from his show proves O'Reilly did in fact say he was on the Falklands. Corn told ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'': "The question is whether Bill O'Reilly was stating the truth when he repeatedly said that Argentine soldiers used real bullets and fired into the crowd of civilians and many were killed."
In September 2009, during an interview he said he covered the riots in Buenos Aires on the day Argentina surrendered.
During an interview with TheBlaze
Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of Chief executive officer, CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. ...
television network, O'Reilly said: "And if that moron orndoesn't think it was a war zone in Buenos Aires, then he's even dumber than I think he is." This characterization by O'Reilly was disputed by former CBS colleague Eric Engberg who was in Buenos Aires at the time and challenged his (O'Reilly's) description of the riot as a "combat situation". Engberg went on to say it was a moderate riot and he heard no "shots fired" and saw no "ambulances or tanks" in the streets. The following week O'Reilly contradicted Engberg's claims, presenting archived CBS video of the riot that ensued after Argentine's surrender. The video appears to show riot police firing tear gas and plastic bullets toward the crowd; additionally, former NBC bureau chief Don Browne referred to the riot as an "intense situation" with many people hurt and tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...
s in the streets of Buenos Aires.
The fallout from the coverage generated by the questioning of O'Reilly's reporting during the Falklands War led to questions of claims made by O'Reilly while in El Salvador and Northern Ireland. In his 2013 book, ''Keep it Pithy'', O'Reilly wrote: "I've seen soldiers gun down unarmed civilians in Latin America, Irish terrorists kill and maim their fellow citizens in Belfast with bombs." In a 2005 radio program O'Reilly said he had "seen guys gun down nuns in El Salvador". In 2012, on ''The O'Reilly Factor'', he expanded, saying "I saw nuns get shot in the back of the head." O'Reilly and Fox News clarified that he had not been an eyewitness to any of those events but had just seen photographs of the murdered nuns and Irish bombings.
Malaysian income claims
In the midst of Chinese President Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
's trips to three Southeast Asian countries in April 2025, O'Reilly mocked Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
on his show as an irrelevant trading partner of China because they "have no money", prompting a harsh response from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim (; born 10 August 1947), also known by his abbreviation as DSAI and PMX, is a Malaysian politician who is the 10th prime minister of Malaysia since 2022. A member of the People's Justice Party (Malaysia), People's Justice P ...
who labeled the conservative commentator's remarks as "arrogant and ignorant" and exposing his "narrow worldview shaped by racial bias and colonialist ideology." O'Reilly further fueled controversy through his responses to Ibrahim, claiming Malaysia's per capita annual income of US$5,731 is below that of the United States, which is US$42,220, suggesting that Malaysians cannot by "a little hat" or have a "Chinese takeout". Malaysian netizens condemned his remarks, citing social benefits that exist in Malaysia and not being enjoyed by average Americans, like free healthcare, safer school environment, and the fact that Malaysians can eat 24 hours a day. Dr. Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff, economic analyst from Putra Business School, opined that O'Reilly's remarks not only reflected his economic illiteracy but also verged on his arrogance, "coming from the perception that the US will always remain the top economic superpower." He cited World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
reports that predicted Asia–Pacific
The Asia–Pacific (APAC) also Known as Indo-Pacific is the region of the world adjoining the western Pacific Ocean. The region's precise boundaries vary depending on context, but countries and territories in Australasia, East Asia, and Southea ...
would experience stronger economic growth than the rest of the world.
Legal issues
On October 13, 2004, O'Reilly sued Andrea Mackris, a former producer for ''The O'Reilly Factor
''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
'', alleging extortion. O'Reilly claimed that Mackris had threatened a lawsuit unless he paid her more than $60 million. Later the same day, Mackris sued O'Reilly for sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
, seeking $60 million in damages. Her complaint alleged that O'Reilly called her engaging in a crude phone conversation. On October 28, 2004, O'Reilly and Mackris reached an out-of-court settlement in which Mackris dropped her sexual-assault suit against O'Reilly and O'Reilly dropped his extortion claim against Mackris. The terms of the agreement are confidential, but in 2017 ''The New York Times'' reported that O'Reilly had agreed to pay Mackris about $9 million and that they would issue a public statement that there had been "no wrongdoing whatsoever".
After Fox News executive Roger Ailes
Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republic ...
was the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former Fox News coworker Gretchen Carlson, O'Reilly said in July 2016, that Ailes was a "target" as a "famous, powerful or wealthy person" and called him the "best boss I ever had". After Ailes was fired and the network settled the lawsuit with Carlson, O'Reilly declined to comment further, saying that "for once in my life, I'm going to keep my big mouth shut."
Shortly after Ailes was fired, Fox News settled a sexual harassment claim against O'Reilly with former Fox host Juliet Huddy. Huddy alleged that O'Reilly pursued a romantic relationship with her and made lewd remarks. Legal fees in this case were settled and paid for by Fox News. The settlement was worth $1.6 million. In August 2016, former Fox host Andrea Tantaros
Andreana Kostantina Tantaros (born December 30, 1978) is an American conservative political analyst and commentator. She was a co-host of '' Outnumbered'' on Fox News from 2014 to 2016 and an original co-host of '' The Five''.
Early life and e ...
filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News, claiming that O'Reilly made sexually suggestive comments to her. Judge George B. Daniels dismissed the lawsuit in May 2018 and wrote that Tantaros' allegations were "primarily based on speculation and conjecture".
''The New York Times'' reported in April 2017 that O'Reilly and Fox News had settled five lawsuits against O'Reilly dating back to 2002. Previously, only the settlements to Mackris and Huddy were publicly reported; ''The Times'' reported that Fox hosts Rebecca Diamond and Laurie Dhue
Laurie Walker Dhue (born February 10, 1969) is an American television journalist. She was a Fox News Channel anchor from 2000 to 2008, reporting for the television show '' Geraldo at Large'' and the host of '' Fox Report'' ''Weekend''.
Born in Ch ...
settled sexual harassment lawsuits in 2011 and 2016 respectively, and junior producer Rachel Witlieb Bernstein settled with Fox in 2002 after accusing O'Reilly of verbal abuse. The amount paid to the women filing the complaints was estimated at $13 million.
In October 2017, ''The New York Times'' reported that O'Reilly was also sued by former Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl for allegedly initiating a "non-consensual sexual relationship" with her.[ O'Reilly paid Wiehl $32 million to confidentially settle the lawsuit, and when the details of this settlement were leaked, O'Reilly was dropped by the ]United Talent Agency
United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. ...
. His literary agent, WME, also announced that they would no longer represent him for future deals after the October report.
Personal life
O'Reilly is a Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He was married to Maureen E. McPhilmy, a public relations executive. The couple met in 1992, and their wedding took place in St. Brigid Parish of Westbury, New York, on November 2, 1996. O'Reilly and McPhilmy have a daughter Madeline (b. 1998) and a son Spencer (b. 2003).
The couple separated on April 2, 2010, and were divorced on September 1, 2011.
In May 2015, court transcripts from O'Reilly's custody trial with ex-wife Maureen McPhilmy revealed an allegation of domestic violence
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
.[ Following this allegation, O'Reilly issued a statement through his attorney describing the account as "100% false" and declined to comment further in order "to respect the court-mandated confidentiality put in place to protect ischildren".] In February 2016, O'Reilly lost a bid for sole custody of both of his children.
Bibliography
O'Reilly has authored or co-authored a number of books:
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* (Reached No. 1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.)[New York Times Best Seller; Number Ones Listing; Non Fiction By Date](_blank)
, Hawes.com
* (Reached No. 1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.)
* (Reached No. 1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list.)
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* (Reached No. 1 on the New York Times' Non-Fiction Best Seller list; Achieved more than one million copies in print in its first three months)
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* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2017). '' Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence''. Henry Holt and Co. .
* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2018). '' Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History''. Henry Holt and Co. .
* O'Reilly, Bill (2019). ''The United States of Trump: How the President Really Sees America''. Thorndike Press.
* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2020). '' Killing Crazy Horse: The Merciless Indian Wars in America''. Henry Holt and Co. .
* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2021). ''Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America''. St. Martin's Press. .
* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2022). ''Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists''. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781250279255.
* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2022). ''Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity''. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781250283306.
* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2023). ''Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts''.
* O'Reilly, Bill; Martin Dugard (2024). ''Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden''. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781250346414.
See also
* New Yorkers in journalism
New York City has been called the Media in New York City, media capital of the world. Many journalists work in Manhattan, reporting about international, American, sports journalism, sports, business journalism, business, entertainment journalism ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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BillOReilly.com/No Spin News archive
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Bill
1949 births
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