Bill O'Reilly implies Megyn Kelly is making Fox News look bad

Bill O'Reilly.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

While promoting his new manners book for children, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly also gave a lesson in irony when he made snide comments about his colleague, Megyn Kelly.

In her new memoir, Settle for More, Kelly alleges that the former boss at Fox News, Roger Ailes, made unwanted sexual advances (he has denied the allegations). On Tuesday morning, while plugging Give Please a Chance, O'Reilly told CBS' Norah O'Donnell that he was "not interested in making my network look bad. At all. That doesn't interest me one bit." O'Donnell asked if that's what Kelly is doing with her book, and O'Reilly responded: "I don't know. But I'm not going to bother with it." O'Reilly — who did pay Kelly a compliment by saying she is a "smart woman" — said he has not read Settle for More, and that "it's a very tough book environment. We'll see if people respond to it."

Hours later on The O'Reilly Factor, seemingly still irritated, O'Reilly tackled the theme of loyalty. Without naming Kelly, O'Reilly said, "If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance. If you don't like what's happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave! I've done that. And then take the action you need to take afterward, if you feel aggrieved. There are labor laws in this country. But don't try to run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it. Factor tip of the day: Loyalty is good." The Kelly File was on immediately afterwards, and Kelly said at the end of the show she wrote about Ailes because she "thought it was an important story to include, and I'm proud to say that our bosses here at Fox [agree]. Like me, they believe that sunlight is the best disinfectant."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.