Meet Bill O’Reilly, the disgraced ex-Fox News commentator who shaped the US conservative media landscape – but what are his ties to Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump?
Here is everything you need to know about him.
Bill O’Reilly, after Fox News
In 2017, O’Reilly was fired from Fox News as the network faced mounting pressure. Fox News had initially stood by him despite multiple complaints regarding sexual harassment and other inappropriate behaviour he’d allegedly engaged in at his workplace. He and Fox News reached a settlement totalling around US$13 million with five women.
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However, O’Reilly has stayed rich thanks to several deals, per Forbes: multiple books, a subscription-only podcast, speaking jobs, and the adaptation of one of his books for National Geographic.
Perhaps the most successful though is his eponymous subscription-based platform, which features a variety of videos and radio episodes. The cheapest subscription plan goes for US$5.42 per month, billed annually. His books and access to his members-only message board are promoted on the site, too.
The presenter has piggybacked on his high profile from his Fox News days too though – his TV show No Spin News is a riff on his line from The O’Reilly Factor: “You are about to enter the No Spin Zone.”
In 2022, O’Reilly’s radio programme, also titled No Spin News, debuted on 58 radio stations across the US. The hour-long show was an expansion of the programme that had aired on Red Apple Media under the WABC New York radio station since 2020.
“We provide something that’s badly needed in the USA: honest fact-based analysis,” O’Reilly claimed in a press release at the time.
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O’Reilly currently has a net worth of US$85 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.
Who is Bill O’Reilly’s successor, Tucker Carlson?
Another polarising figure, Tucker Carlson took over from O’Reilly after the latter left Fox News in 2017. Now neither of them work with the network, but they continue to have a strong fan base. The two teamed up for a joint interview in September last year.
The interview was posted on X (formerly Twitter) and received more than 22.6 million views at the time of writing. They discussed the future of cable news, being fired from Fox, and Donald Trump.
Who is Bill O’Reilly’s family?
O’Reilly was married to his ex-wife Maureen McPhilmy from 1996 to 2011. Their divorce was a bitter split that played out in the public eye. The couple have two children together, Madeline and Spencer. His daughter first became known to the public thanks to her testimony during the divorce proceedings.
She reportedly testified that her father was abusive towards her mother, detailing how he once allegedly dragged Maureen down the stairs. Per Independent, her testimony resulted in O’Reilly losing custody of his children. He denied the claims, but said he would not comment further to protect his children. It is not known what his relationship with his daughter is like now.
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His political legacy
O’Reilly is widely considered instrumental in creating the modern populist conservative climate that eventually resulted in Trump becoming US president. He is a critic of mainstream media and “political correctness”, per CNN.
Trump publicly defended O’Reilly over his sexual misconduct allegations, calling him a “good person” and saying, “I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”
O’Reilly was reportedly once a registered Republican, with him later saying he changed to become a registered independent instead.
- The former host of the popular The O’Reilly Factor was ousted from the network after sexual misconduct allegations, and has since launched his own radio and TV show, No Spin News
- The pundit is also close to Donald Trump, urging him to run for re-election back in 2021; he’s also credited with creating the climate that led to Trump’s 2016 win