Fox News star Bill O'Reilly seems pretty agnostic on whether Brian Williams will keep his job as NBC Nightly News anchor. If Williams' Iraq helicopter story is a one-off exaggeration, he'll keep his position, O'Reilly predicted on Monday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live, but if he has a "character flaw" and embellished other reports, he'll probably be out of work. People gleeful about Williams' downfall, on the other hand, "it disturbs me," O'Reilly said, adding that the internet is a "sewer" full of people who "delight in seeing famous people being taken apart."
Kimmel, for his part, seemed surprised that O'Reilly was so empathetic. So O'Reilly shared his own Iraq helicopter story, a short trip from the Baghdad airport during a rally-the-troops tour of U.S. bases. When you're riding in a helicopter gunship, "its unbelievably exhilarating," O'Reilly said. "Your adrenalin is running.... it's intense. Nobody shot at us or anything like that, but I could see that if you come on a show like Kimmel, or any of the late night shows, you don't want to be a dweeb — you want to have something interesting to say." Watch O'Reilly say some interesting things below. —Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
