John Oliver says Fox News won't take his new paid ad for Trump on the embattled O'Reilly Factor


At least 60 advertisers have pulled the plug on Fox News star Bill O'Reilly's O'Reilly Factor since The New York Times reported a week ago that the cable news network and O'Reilly have paid out at least $13 million in sexual harassment settlements with five women since 2002, and another Fox News contributor came forward since the report. At this point, "almost nobody is standing by Bill O'Reilly," John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. "Nobody, that is, apart from the president of the United States."
"Bill O'Reilly needs advertisers, and Donald Trump needs to understand sexual harassment," Oliver said. "And here is where we come in." Since February, Last Week Tonight has been buying ads on TV shows Trump regularly watches, trying to slip him messages through a catheter-using cowboy character. Oliver has a new ad for The O'Reilly Factor. "We submitted it to stations on Friday, but weirdly, we haven't heard back from them since," he said. "Which is a little surprising, because we're one of the only advertisers offering to buy time on his show at the moment. And I do hope they don't reject this ad, but just in case they do, here's a sneak peak of what we'd like the president to see." Watch the most safe-for-work (but still borderline) part of Oliver's segment, plus the ad, below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to 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.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
August 16 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include football season anticipation, and Donald Trump angling for Putin's autograph
-
5 hilariously cold cartoons about the Alaska summit
Cartoons Artists take on the Alaskan totem pole, a peace flag, and more
-
Sudoku medium: August 16, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages