Mercedes-Benz pulls ads from The O'Reilly Factor


On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Fox News and Bill O'Reilly paid $13 million to settle complaints from five women who accused the host of sexual harassment and verbal abuse, and on Monday, Mercedes-Benz "reassigned" its advertisements from his show, The O'Reilly Factor.
Donna Boland, manager of corporate communications at Mercedes-Benz, told CNNMoney the company runs advertisements on most major cable news shows, and The O'Reilly Factor's ads have been "reassigned in the midst of this controversy. The allegations are disturbing and, given the importance of women in every aspect of our business, we don't feel this is a good environment in which to advertise our products right now."
The O'Reilly Factor ended 2016 as the top program in cable news for the 14th year in a row. CNNMoney asked several companies that advertise on the network during O'Reilly's time slot if they plan on pulling their ads; Jenny Craig said it does not publicly comment on its advertising strategy while Lexus said it "seeks to partner with organizations who share our company culture and philosophy of respect for all people" and is "monitoring the situation."
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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.
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