Bill O'Reilly OUT at Fox

[rockmom]

Seems Bill received a nice parting gift from Fox.. $25 million. Said it was a years salary.

 

If he's careful he may be able to just live the retired life. He may need to tighten his belt a bit and maybe sell a home or 2, but I think he'll be able to manage without having to become a Wal-Mart greeter.

[hidinout]

Fox is screwing up badly . Sad .

[formerkywrestler]

Well, I for one am glad that popularity and earning power did not win out.

 

I think it actually did. Bill has had a long history of various allegations. The pull-out of sponsors is ultimately what lead to his firing.

 

Why Was Bill O'Reilly Really Fired? - The Atlantic

[bugatti]

If he's careful he may be able to just live the retired life. He may need to tighten his belt a bit and maybe sell a home or 2, but I think he'll be able to manage without having to become a Wal-Mart greeter.

I am guessing Bill is worth $100 MM or so.

[Jim Schue]

Fox is screwing up badly . Sad .

 

Perhaps, but from a business standpoint they're doing what they had to do to protect the bottom line and get advertisers back on board in a prime-time, high-dollar time slot.

[Clyde]

The Murdoch sons made the final call. Dad didn't want to fire him.

[Clyde]

Payouts to victims of sexual abuse / misconduct by Fox employees and severance packages to those fired has cost Fox about $85M.

[tcjkbt]

The Murdoch sons made the final call. Dad didn't want to fire him.

 

I'm not surprised it went all the way to the top--------too big a decision not to.

[rockmom]

I am guessing Bill is worth $100 MM or so.

 

It was tongue in cheek. :

[mcpapa]

Fox is screwing up badly . Sad .

 

I agree with you (zounds!). Twice now that a major player there has been run off for the same reason. Seems like the guys way up in the pecking order feel that they can get away with anything.

 

Of course, it takes the loss of tens of millions in sponsor dollars to get the company to act.

[mcpapa]

When I think of Rush I think of the prescription drug abuse thing.

 

When I think of him, what comes to mind first is that he avoided military service because of an ingrown butt hair.

[All In]

When I think of him, what comes to mind first is that he avoided military service because of an ingrown butt hair.

 

Where is there any information about this or the drug abuse thing? The reason being is I can't stand this guy and have two people at work that listen to him religiously, would like to have some ammo to come back at them from time to time,lol

[Voice of Reason]

Fox is screwing up badly . Sad .

 

Ummm, aptly and should we say - literally - stated description of what has happened, be it intentional or not.

[mcpapa]

Where is there any information about this or the drug abuse thing? The reason being is I can't stand this guy and have two people at work that listen to him religiously, would like to have some ammo to come back at them from time to time,lol

 

From wiki:

 

[h=3]Prescription drug addiction[/h]On October 3, 2003, the National Enquirer reported that Limbaugh was being investigated for illegally obtaining the prescription drugs oxycodone and hydrocodone. Other news outlets quickly confirmed the investigation.^[152] He admitted to listeners on his radio show on October 10, 2003, that he was addicted to prescription painkillers and stated that he would enter inpatient treatment for 30 days, immediately after the broadcast.^[153] Limbaugh stated his addiction to painkillers resulted from several years of severe back pain heightened by a botched surgery intended to correct those problems.

A subsequent investigation into whether Limbaugh had violated Florida's doctor shopping laws was launched by the Palm Beach State Attorney, which raised privacy issues when investigators seized Limbaugh's private medical records looking for evidence of crimes. Roy Black, one of Limbaugh's attorneys, stated that "Rush Limbaugh was singled out for prosecution because of who he is. We believe the state attorney's office is applying a double standard."^[154] On November 9, 2005, following two years of investigations, Assistant State Attorney James L. Martz requested that the court set aside Limbaugh's doctor–patient confidentiality rights and allow the state to question his physicians.^[155] Limbaugh's attorney opposed the prosecutor's efforts to interview his doctors on the basis of patient privacy rights, and argued that the prosecutor had violated Limbaugh's Fourth Amendment rights by illegally seizing his medical records. The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement in agreement and filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Limbaugh.^[156][157] On December 12, 2005, Judge David F. Crow delivered a ruling prohibiting the State of Florida from questioning Limbaugh's physicians about "the medical condition of the patient and any information disclosed to the health care practitioner by the patient in the course of the care and treatment of the patient."^[158]

On April 28, 2006, a warrant was issued for his arrest on the charge of doctor shopping. According to Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the sheriff, during his arrest, Limbaugh was booked, photographed, and fingerprinted, but not handcuffed. He was then released after about an hour on $3,000 bail.^{[159][160][161]} After his surrender, he filed a "not guilty" plea to the charge. Prosecutors explained that the charges were brought after they discovered he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion. In 2009, after 3 years of prolonged discussion regarding a settlement, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge if Limbaugh paid $30,000 to defray the cost of the investigation, completed an 18-month therapy regimen with his physician, submitted to random drug testing, and gave up his right to own a firearm for eighteen months.^[162] Limbaugh agreed to the settlement, though he continued to maintain his innocence of doctor shopping and asserted that the state's offer resulted from a lack of evidence supporting the charge.^[163]

Before his addiction became known, Limbaugh had condemned illegal drug use on his television program, stating that "Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up."^[164][165]

In June 2006, Limbaugh was detained by drug enforcement agents at Palm Beach International Airport. Customs officials confiscated Viagra from Limbaugh's luggage as he was returning from the Dominican Republic. The prescription was not in Limbaugh's name.^[166] After he was released with no charges filed, Limbaugh joked about the incident on his radio show, claiming that he got the Viagra at the Clinton Library and was told they were blue M&M's. He also stated that "I had a great time in the Dominican Republic. Wish I could tell you about it."^[166]

 

^{http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/limbaugh.asp}

 

 

[Voice of Reason]

Is there where we say, I wonder what everyone would say if he was a ........

 

What a hypocrite. And then he throws it all right in the face of his listeners and makes a joke of it. Kind of like I could shoot someone in the middle of the street and ....

 

That media is so one sided.