Bill O'Reilly Sexual Harassment Scandal: More Than 40 Advertisers Abandon Show

Pressure continues to mount on Fox News host Bill O'Reilly as more than 40 brands have pulled their ads from his political commentary show, "The O'Reilly Factor," in light of recent reports of sexual harassment allegations leveled at the conservative talking head. BMW, Jenny Craig, H&R Block, Advil, Esurance and GlaxoSmithKline are among the many who have jumped ship, the total number of which has doubled just since Tuesday. Though he has long been one of the network's top talents and a major hit with the Fox News audience, mounting pressure from the channel's corporate backers may put his employment in jeopardy.

Among those coming to his defense Wednesday was a long-time compatriot of O'Reilly, President Trump. He told the New York Times that O'Reilly is "a good person," adding that, "I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.” The New York Times also broke the story this weekend that now imperils Fox News' bottom line, which found that "the company has repeatedly stood by Mr. O’Reilly as he faced a series of allegations of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior." The report found that the network has paid out $13 million in settlements.

O'Reilly denies the allegations, and Fox News said it has addressed the issue with him. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

In a statement, the company Jenny Craig explained its decision Wednesday to pull its commercials: "As an organization, Jenny Craig condemns any and all forms of sexual harassment. As a matter of corporate policy, we do not publicly comment on our advertising strategy. We are constantly evaluating our media buys to maximize the efficiency of our corporate investment and effectively reach our target audience. However, we can confirm that we have suspended all ads on The O'Reilly Factor."

ThinkProgress lists the companies eschewing the O'Reilly brand. As of publication time, more than 40 advertisers have publicly announced that they do not want to be associated with the commentator.

“We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about the O’Reilly Factor," Fox News Channel’s EVP of Advertising Sales Paul Rittenberg said in a statement. "At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs.”

Some companies are trying to stay out of the controversy over "The O'Reilly Factor." Angie's List put out a statement saying it would not change its ad buy with Fox, which includes the potential of airing on O'Reilly's show.

"The advertising strategy we have long used at Angie's List is meant to reach as many people as possible with news that our service exists and is available to them," spokeswoman Cheryl Reed said. "We place ads across a wide spectrum of venues intending to reach as many viewers/listeners/readers as possible without taking a position on the viewpoints of the venues themselves."

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