All too often in this fallen world, it seems like good people get ground to dust while assholes fail to receive their much-deserved comeuppance. But it looks like raging misogynist, racist, bullying asshole Bill O’Reilly might get shit-canned via the machinations of the Murdoch spawn:
The Murdoch family is reportedly fighting about top Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s future at the network in the wake of accusations of sexual harassment against him, New York Magazine reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
O’Reilly is currently away on vacation, his longest in years, and the family is “leaning toward” announcing he will not be back on air, according to the report. James and Lachlan Murdoch are of the opinion that O’Reilly needs to go, sources apparently told the publication, but their father, Rupert, is not so sure.
“The three are fighting,” an unnamed source told New York Magazine.
Part of the reason Murdoch is resistant is that he doesn’t want it to look like he was “forced into a decision by The New York Times,” the report continued.
This report comes on the heels of dozens of companies pulling out of advertising on O’Reilly’s show after it came to light that several sexual harassment cases against him had been settled. The revenue lost, along with other factors, has made the idea of letting O’Reilly go look better and better, an unnamed source told the publication.
I sure hope this comes to pass. Oh, he’ll still be an obscenely rich motherfucker who is admired by fellow grabby assholes like the orange-tinted pustule currently inflaming the Oval Office. But even though he has not a whit of professional integrity, O’Reilly thinks he does, judging by the sneering hostility and over-the-top dominance displays directed toward anyone who questions his “reporting.”
So getting shit-canned will sting. Good. O’Reilly is an ignorant blowhard who has actively made the world a worse place while enriching himself and taking advantage of others. He deserves far worse than firing, but it’s a start.
*Before he was one of the most awesome US Senators ever, Al Franken dealt with O’Reilly in his 2003 book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” The title in question was, “Bill O’Reilly: Lying, Splotchy Bully.” IIRC, Franken chose that title because O’Reilly freaked out at a promo photo of himself that made him look splotchy (which he is!). O’Reilly allegedly handled the splotchy photo crisis with the grace and aplomb displayed in the vintage video up top. Asshole!
efgoldman
Persimmon Pustule will probably offer him Kelly Anne’s job.
germy
I don’t have the link, but if you ever see the O’Reilly/Al Franken debate it’s a beautiful thing.
Franken pointed out Bill’s “bio” was complete bullshit. The awards he claimed to have received, his “humble” beginnings… it was all bullshit.
And Bill started screaming “shut up!! shut up!!” at him.
Comedy gold.
Corner Stone
Getting a bad feeling about GA-6.
Mike in NC
Been waiting years to buy a book entitled, “Killing Bill O’Reilly”.
donnah
Seeing Big Bill get taken down would be one bright spot in a dismal world. Get Rush Limbaugh out as well, and there would be dancing in the streets.
O’Reilly is a match for Trump in the ego department, so seeing him get taken away would be a nice. I’m sure he will pop up again in another venue, but it would still be great to see him booted.
Corner Stone
It will only be real to some people when O’Reilly reaches the “Cosby Effect”. The sheer number and weight of people will make them not feel like defending him anymore, even if they don’t believe the accusations are real.
ruemara
Let’s get honest. He is invited to too many supposedly liberal or liberal-friendly media outlets where he’s treated like a jolly uncle we like to spar with. These fuckers have their rep because they get such gentle, friendly treatment when they step outside their hidey foxhole.
And can I just say as much as I enjoy Pod Save America, I’m sick of them saying that Bernie Sanders was so authentic and honest and that’s why people love him. No, he’s a media creation. 10 years of hype worked. White male centric liberalism needs to take a vacation and be fired.
@Corner Stone: Libs, Dems & centrists don’t really want it enough, if they lose. They think they have to only wait until 2018 or 2020. Or, more honestly, it won’t affect them and everyone’s a crook. We’ll see.
germy
@Corner Stone:
efgoldman
@donnah:
In most markets, Rushbo’s show has been moved from major stations to much smaller ones, often low-power daytimers.
Whatever Clear Channel or I Heart Radio or whatever they’re called this week is paying him, on the existing contract, they’re losing their shirts, pants and shoes.
The Moar You Know
He will get Spicer’s job.
efgoldman
@The Moar You Know:
Much, much too low on the food chain for his ego. Kelly Anne’s or nothing.
ruemara
@efgoldman: The payoff must be more than money.
amk
@germy: why is twitler freaking out?
efgoldman
@ruemara:
Ego, ego, and when he’s done with that, more ego. Any money he’d make working in the maladministration would be incidental to the ego satisfaction.
TenguPhule
FTFY
Gelfling 545
Rupert wouldn’t be forced by the Times. He’d be forced by O’Reilly being a disgusting old lech.
TenguPhule
Alas, wingnut welfare is always waiting in the wings.
Think tank or consultant.
Corner Stone
IMO, there’s no way O’Reilly would take orders from Trump and debase himself for some other man’s bidding and aggrandizement.
efgoldman
@Gelfling 545:
Ailes and Orally can’t possibly be the only grabby, harassing, misogynistic assholes at Rupertland. Not possible.
I don’t care how much they pay, or how much exposure (so to speak) they give their eye candy air personalities, I really don’t understand how any woman can work there.
schrodingers_cat
@ruemara: I have seen Jon Stewart’s fawning interviews with Bill O, nauseating.
germy
@amk:
Somebody on his team told him the Ossoff election is important. He’s been tweeting like crazy about it.
MattF
O’Reilly is such an asshole that one can only dream about his comeuppance. I will recall, however, the case of the Moralizer Bill Bennett, who actually wrote pedagogical books on the subject of how to be a good little boy or girl– and turned out to be an unregenerate gambling addict. So there’s hope, after all.
debbie
I wonder if Rupert’s reticence is due to his own similar behavior.
debbie
@germy:
Trump’s also been making robo-calls.
ETA: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/04/18/donald-trump-jon-ossoff-georgia-tom-price/100591372/
rikyrah
@The Moar You Know:
I think that too.
ruemara
@schrodingers_cat: We have our own version of the caste system here. Even the ones who seem to be “Us” really tend to be too chummy with “Them”. Rachael Maddow’s affection for Pat Fucking Buchanan comes to mind.
germy
@debbie:
I hope it hurts…
the republicans.
MattF
@ruemara: Bah. She should know better. Even Mo Dowd won’t give Ol’Pat the time of day, and she’s as Villagey as you can get.
randy khan
@schrodingers_cat:
It hardly is impossible to handle O’Reilly on a talk show – the one time I saw him on Letterman, O’Reilly did very badly. Letterman was just incredulous about nearly everything O’Reilly said, laughing at him the whole time. The thing is, I don’t think O’Reilly actually understood what was happening (and I know he appeared on the show more than once).
randy khan
@debbie:
I assume that Trump has been picking up the stories about how an Ossoff win would look bad for him, and so he’s willing to make a push. But it’s really strange for a sitting President to have to make robocalls in a special election in a district the Rs won by 16 in the last general. (And given that the district went for Trump by only 1%, not clear it’s a good idea, either.)
schrodingers_cat
@randy khan: Jon Stewart was a total suck up to Rumsfeld and John Yoo too but gave Pelosi and Obama a hard time when they were on his show.
schrodingers_cat
@ruemara: They see themselves as entertainers first, that’s the problem. Rachel Maddow is no exception.
Emerald
Bill O’Reilly is responsible for my loss of a good friend. He was a good Dem but hated Hillary with zeal. Instead of becoming a Wilmerbot he hooked onto O’Reilly and I just don’t want to know him anymore.
OK, yeah, he must have had some bad tendencies that I didn’t know about previously or he never would have found O’Reilly attractive, but I know now and don’t want to know him.
bystander
@amk: Trump must think Ossoff is not doing well and he wants to make it look as if his tweets saved the day.
eclare
@schrodingers_cat: And Kathleen Sebelius.
Emerald
@ruemara:
Years ago I met Pat Fucking Buchanan. He’s actually a funny and very personable guy, as long as you stay away from his politics.
So I can see why Rachel and lots of other people would like him. I did. Briefly.
debbie
@randy khan:
O’Reilly showed up every time he had a book to peddle and Letterman decimated him every time. Will no one ever be able to replace him???
bystander
@schrodingers_cat: Jon Stewart always had to interject bothsiderism into his routines. I also found Peter Sagal on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me always felt obligated to balance his jokes about Trump with some gratuitous smear of Clinton. Wait Wait was a staple on the road but no more.
ruemara
@randy khan: But that 1% will show the hell up because they hate Dems. Dems don’t seem to get that and need to be lured, coaxed, romanced etc etc etc. I don’t get it. But then, I’m a black woman. I can’t require wooing when considering my survival.
efgoldman
@bystander:
You’re starting with a null set premise.
hellslittlestangel
Cut his mic! Cut his mic!
bemused
@randy khan:
Yup, Letterman was great. I love the way he played wide-eyed, innocent questions and then slyly knifed Bill.
Hal
I remember O’Reilly flipping out on Terri Gross when she interviewed him on Fresh Air after she questioned him about Fox News’s lawsuit against Franken.
He went on his show that night saying she was to chicken to air the episode, which she did, no problem. IIRC, NPR ombudsmen took O’Reilly’s side in the matter, saying he was there to talk about his shitty book, not Franken.
MomSense
@ruemara:
I have the same issues with Pod Save America even though I am definitely a “friend of the Pod”.
bemused
@Emerald:
I remember seeing Rachel reprimand Buchanan when he was being particularly assholish. Uncle Pat didn’t take it very well, as I recall.
NCSteve
Hey, it’s in the Bibul: “For what does it profit a network to gain the largest audience share and yet lose its advertisers?”
randy khan
@ruemara:
I’m a white straight guy and I don’t get it, either. I’d have crawled over broken glass to vote against Trump.
Lalophobia
@schrodingers_cat: To be fair about John Yoo, I think Jon went in wanting a harder interview but Yoo’s complete lack of shame threw him for a loop.
But yeah, it could get so frustrating. That’s something that’s interesting about Trump. He’s so bad he makes it harder for the both-sides-do-it people to pull the act they did during the campaign. Not that they aren’t still trying, but whatever makes their agonized cries of ‘but Democrats!’ more shrill and desperate and less believable to the public at large is a plus to me.
Betty Cracker
@germy: Gonna have to look that up!
Noncarborundum
@randy khan:
White, straight, college-educated, affluent, nearly 60 years old, raised Christian. I went out on a sprained ankle to canvass for Clinton the 4 days leading up to the election and ended up breaking the damned thing. True story, and I don’t regret a moment of it. I just wish the outcome had been different.
amk
Typical rethug ratfucking the election.
unforeseen staffing and equipment issues, indeed.
geg6
He’ll probably get a WH job offer, but that’s fine with me. Another reason to keep ignoring the current inhabitant and his minions. But I’d love to see him get shitcanned by FOX. He’s everything that’s wrong with the network. He completely embodies the entire ethos.
germy
Franken vs. O’Reilly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TISf3noZW9c
quakerinabasement
@germy: To which Franken replied, “This isn’t your show, Bill. We’re not on Fox News.”
germy
@quakerinabasement: And this was what… 20 years ago? Nothing’s changed.
germy
@Hal:
I remember that! And then a week later Triumph The Insult Comic Dog was a guest, and he threw a tantrum and “walked out” as a parody of O’Reilly.
good times.
Jeffro
I just LOVE this framing:
Um, no, Murdoch has been forced to this decision by 1) O’Reilly’s behavior and 2) Murdoch’s enabling of it. The NYT – for once – bears exactly 0% of the blame here.
Keith P.
If O’Reilly was really smart, he would use “Do it! We’ll fuck live!” as his pick up line. Then, he could claim he was just trying to do his famous meltdown bit but got mixed up.
debbie
Oh boy.
efgoldman
@debbie:
My paternal grandfather always claimed not to know his birthdate or year, but he came to the US as a young adolescent with no paperwork, no parents, and no other relatives.
Also, well into his 80s, we think he was still afraid that the Cossacks would show up and arrest him forcdraft dodging. Not so many Cossacks in Boston, though.
debbie
@efgoldman:
As long as he steered clear of Brighton Beach, your grandfather would be safe. One of my great grandfathers came from Latvia in 1903. Depending on the politics at the time of each census, his family switched back and forth between Russians and Germans.
hilts
Bill Orally’s departure can’t come soon enough
h/t http://www.salon.com/2017/04/18/bill-oreilly-called-me-hot-chocolate-and-grunted-like-a-wild-boar-another-woman-accuses-fox-news-host-of-sexual-harassment
bluehill
On the other hand, the Murdoch’s have known about Bill’s behavior for a long time and had a number of chances to fire him, so I don’t think they have suddenly developed a conscience. I would kind of prefer that Fox keeps him on. Bill’s getting older and his demo is probably shrinking. Bill is still odious but is becoming less relevant. This old news gives Fox an excuse to replace Bill with someone younger and potentially more appealing to a younger audience. Tomi Lahren comes to mind. It’s ageism. Same BS but younger, prettier talking head.
Frankensteinbeck
I remember with pride the time I kicked O’Reilly’s Jesus book out of the #1 children’s book slot on Amazon. I held the spot for 12 hours. He never got it back.
RedDirtGirl
This thread may be on it’s last legs, but it is the most recent open thread and I just want to echo the recent commenter who suggested that Rikyrah should be considered for front page status! She is posting so many great articles!!!!!!
HeartlandLiberal
I feel certain the Murdoch’s can find another gig for him, say, chief editor at National Geographic. I hear they are working to turn that magazine around and make something of it. Bill could do that.