Major brands are pulling their ads from “The O’Reilly Factor” the most popular show on cable news, and its network, Fox News, after a report about five settlements with women who alleged sexual harassment or verbal abuse by anchor Bill O’Reilly.
The decisions signal the potential of financial damage for “The O’Reilly Factor,” Paul Rittenberg, the executive vice president of advertising sales at Fox News, addressed the exodus in a statement on Tuesday.
“We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about the O’Reilly Factor,” Rittenberg said. “At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs.”
On Tuesday, a trickle of announcements quickly turned into a steady flow, as companies began announcing their decision to pull out of “The O’Reilly Factor”. Hyundai said early Tuesday that it is not currently advertising on “The O’Reilly Factor” but will remove upcoming ads because of the “recent and disturbing allegations.”
“We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation as we plan future advertising decisions,” the company said.
“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,” spokeswoman Mercedes Benz Donna Boland told CNNMoney.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that settlements totaling $13 million had been reached with five women who accused O’Reilly of inappropriate behavior.
O’Reilly did not respond to the report on his show Monday night. In a statement over the weekend, Fox News’ parent company 21st Century Fox said it “takes matters of workplace behavior very seriously” but stood by O’Reilly. It also said none of the women used a company hotline to report improper behavior.
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