Twenty companies have pulled advertisements from Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s time slot after a New York Times investigation found that O’Reilly and Fox News had paid out millions to settle sexual-harassment allegations made against him.
The Times’ investigation into O’Reilly’s conduct found that complaints against the host included “verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances, and phone calls ‘in which it sounded as if Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating, according to documents and interviews.'”
In addition to the five women who have reportedly received settlements from either O’Reilly or Fox News totaling $13 million, two others have accused the conservative commentator of unwanted advances.
Paul Rittenberg, executive vice president of sales at Fox News, said in a statement provided to Business Insider that the network values its partners and is “working with them to address their current concerns abou the ‘O’Relly Factor.'”
"At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs," Rittenberg said.
O'Reilly has denied that there is any merit to the allegations against him.
Last week, the embattled host hired crisis-communications expert Mark Fabiani, who released a statement to The Times on behalf of O'Reilly.
"Just like other prominent and controversial people, I'm vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity," the statement said. "In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline.
"But most importantly, I'm a father who cares deeply for my children and who would do anything to avoid hurting them in any way. And so I have put to rest any controversies to spare my children," it continued.
Here are all the companies who have pulled commercials from O'Reilly's show:
Mercedes-Benz was the first company to pull its ads from "The O'Reilly Factor" on Monday. Calling the allegations against O'Reilly "disturbing," a Mercedes representative added that "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."
Source: CNN
Hyundai joined Mercedes shortly after, with a representative saying the company is "reallocating its advertising due to the allegations against O'Reilly."
"As a company we seek to partner with companies and programming that share our values of inclusion and diversity. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation as we plan future advertising decisions," the statement read.
BMW North America dropped its ads from O'Reilly's time slot on Tuesday morning, becoming the third major sponsor to pull its ads from the show.
Pharmaceutical company Sanofi also announced on Tuesday that it would be pulling its ads. "The controversy around The O'Reilly Factor program and allegations made against Bill O'Reilly are matters that we take seriously and will continue to monitor. We do not endorse the behavior or opinions of program hosts or the content," a representative told CNN.
Source: CNN
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline announced on Tuesday that it too would not be airing commercials while "The O'Reilly Factor" was on.
Men's clothing marketer Untuckit followed quickly after. "This morning we instructed our media buyer to reallocate our ad dollars to other shows. We will continue to closely monitor the situation but believe this is the right decision at this time," Aaron Sanandres, the company's CEO, told The New York Times.
Ainsworth Pet Nutrition called the allegations against O'Reilly "disturbing" and cited them as the reason for removing its advertisements from the host's time slot.
Source: CNN
Insurance giant Allstate joined the growing group of companies boycotting O'Reilly's time slot. "Inclusivity and support for women are important Allstate values. We are concerned about the issues surrounding the program and we have suspended our advertising," said Allstate spokesman Justin Herndon on Tuesday.
Source: NBC News
Online-marketing firm Constant Contact pulled its commercials from O'Reilly's slot on Tuesday morning. "Based on the recent allegations and our strong commitment to inclusion, respect and tolerance in the workplace, we have decided to pull Constant Contacts ads from 'The O'Reilly Factor,'" said Lark-Marie Antón, the chief communications officer for the Endurance International Group, which owns Constant Contact.
Mitsubishi joined Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and BMW on Tuesday and made the decision to pull its commercials during O'Reilly's show, according to NBC News.
Source: NBC News
Asset-management firm T. Rowe Price pulled ads. "We regularly evaluate our media buys to ensure alignment with our corporate values, and in light of the recent allegations we have decided to pull our upcoming ads from The O'Reilly Factor," a statement said.
Credit Karma dropped ads from O'Reilly's timeslot Tuesday afternoon, CNBC reported.
Source: CNBC
Lexus pulled its ads from the 'O'Reilly Factor,' citing its "duties as a responsible advertiser."
Source: CNN
Pest-control company Orkin announced Tuesday they would also be pulling their ads.
The car-buying website TrueCar announced via Twitter that it had instructed its media buyer "to direct our advertising to other programming"
Source: CNN
Esurance, which is owned by Allstate, pulled ads, saying it wants to "partner with organizations and programming that share" its values of inclusion.
Source: New York Daily News.
The e-commerce home-goods company Wayfair pulled its ads from Bill O'Reilly's program on Tuesday. A representative for the company told Business Insider they are "closely assessing the situation – and do not have future ad buys planned for the show at this time."
Citing support for women, pharmaceutical giant Bayer pulled ads due to "the serious nature of these allegations," according to a statement.
Source: New York Daily News.
The Wonderful Company, which makes the POM juice brand, said it was not planning any advertising for Bill O'Reilly's program.
Source: CNN
The Society for Human Resource Management said it also pulled ads from Bill O'Reilly's "The O'Reilly Factor."
Source: CNN