NBC's Megyn Kelly disputes Bill O'Reilly's claim that no one complained about his behavior: 'I complained'
On Monday, NBC's Megyn Kelly responded to claims by former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly that in his 20 years at the network, nobody ever complained about his behavior as being inappropriate. "O'Reilly's suggestion that nobody ever complained about his behavior is false," Kelly said on Megyn Kelly Today. "I know because I complained."
The New York Times reported this weekend that Fox News renewed O'Reilly's contract after agreeing to a $32 million sexual harassment settlement with a longtime analyst. O'Reilly was ultimately ousted from Fox News in April over mounting allegations. Kelly, who accused former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes of harassment, worked at the network until switching to NBC in January.
On her show Monday, Kelly quoted O'Reilly, who in 2016 claimed he was not "interested" in sexual harassment because it made his company look bad. "Perhaps he didn't realize that his exact attitude of shaming women into shutting the hell up on the grounds that it would disgrace the company is in part how Fox News got into the decades-long Ailes mess to begin with," Kelly said, reading from a never-before-publicized email she sent to Fox News' presidents in November 2016.
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With a deep breath, Kelly concluded: "This is not unique to Fox News. Women everywhere are used to being dismissed, ignored, or attacked when raising complaints about men in authority positions. They stay silent so often out of fear." Watch below. Jeva Lange
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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