A massive protest led by the groups UltraViolet and Color of Change rocked the headquarters of Fox News as sexual assault and sexual harassment survivors demanded that Bill O’Reilly be fired from Fox News.
Video of the protest:
Along with the protest in the video above, UltraViolet also had a plane fly around Manhattan with a banner that read, “FOX: #DROPOREILLY, THE SEXUAL PREDATOR.†Members of UltraViolet also placed posters around Fox News headquarters that asked, “Have you also been sexually harassed by Bill?â€
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
“Fox News has a problem with sexual assault – and it’s bigger than just Bill O’Reilly. For years, Fox News executives have provided cover for Bill O’Reilly’s systematic harassment and abuse of other Fox New’s employees – making it hard to take their promises to investigate such crimes seriously.†said Shaunna Thomas, Co-founder of UltraViolet. “Fox News needs to prove to the public – and its advertisers – that the era of covering up sexual assault is over. That means – firing Bill O’Reilly immediately and conducting a comprehensive and independent investigation into sexual abuse at the network – firing anyone involved in, or complicit in covering up, those crimes.â€
The Fox strategy is to try to wait these protests out. Fox is hoping that Bill O’Reilly will come back from vacation, and this will all have blown over. The bad news for the Murdochs is that the protesters aren’t going away. They are getting louder and more intense. The idea of waiting out the protesters and advertiser boycotters has not worked yet for anyone in conservative media.
The protesters aren’t going to wake up one morning and forget about the fact that Fox News is employing and enabling a sexual predator.
The protests will continue until Bill O’Reilly no longer works for Fox News.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
