After he got away with several atrocities, Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly has finally been fired from his position and removed entirely from the channel. The misogynistic news anchor had many allegations of sexual harassment from female co-workers, and threats to “make them pay” if they dared to speak about his actions.
Some of the allegations against O’Reilly include offering multiple unwanted sexual advances to a woman producer on his show, suggesting that she “engage in phone sex or a threesome with him,” and threatening to make any woman “pay so dearly that she’ll wish she’d never been born.”
In the beginning, little happened in reaction to these allegations. O’Reilly remained employed at Fox with the mindset that he was indestructible. From there on, O’Reilly seemed to make even more money than previously, with revenue from his show adding up to $446 million from 2014 to 2016, according to research firm, Kantar Media.
The company stood behind O’Reilly even while he negotiated settlements with five different women regarding the allegations of sexual harassment. According to the New York Times, these settlements totaled to about $13 million.
Last summer, similar allegations were made against the chairman of the company, Roger E. Ailes, which led to his dismissal and Fox News executives promising a culture based on “trust and respect.”
With Fox backing O’Reilly, women inside the company started to question if the statement about maintaining a trustworthy and respectful work culture was genuine.
This was also quite upsetting to women in the workplace everywhere. The main questioned still remained; will he get away with it?
Not for long. O’Reilly was dismissed from Fox News last week. 21st Century Fox announced in a press release, “After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.”
Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of Fox News, wrote a letter to his colleagues regarding the fate of O’Reilly’s career. In it, he unnecessarily discussed how successful O’Reilly has been. Murdoch said, “By ratings standards, Bill O’Reilly is one of the most accomplished TV personalities in the history of cable news. In fact, his success by any measure is indisputable.”
While these comments weren’t needed in the letter, he did show sympathy toward the end and stated that he understands it’s been difficult for many Fox employees and he believes the company will continue to have great success in the future.
The company claims that O’reilly was let go because of a pattern of behavior that is offensive. “Not merely to the people who were its most direct targets, but to our broader ideals of decency, respectfulness and empathy,” according to The Atlantic.
This shined a small light of hope for women in the workplace towards better treatment in their careers. According to Media Matters, one in three women between the ages of 18 and 34 has been sexually harassed at work. About 70 percent of the women who experience workplace sexual harassment don’t report it in fear of retaliation.  
Change won’t occur unless we continue to put our foot down and punish men who have done harm to or mistreated women, no matter their career status.