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One of the women who has accused former Fox News presenter Bill O’Reilly of sexual harassment will meet UK regulators next week as the scandal threatens to scupper Rupert Murdoch’s bid to take full control of Sky.
Ofcom is to decide whether the media mogul’s 21st Century Fox and it’s chief executive James Murdoch are “fit and proper” owners of Sky.
Wendy Walsh, who appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, alleges that the presenter cancelled a job offer after she refused his request to go to his hotel room.
Ms Walsh will speak to Ofcom in London on Monday. She is one of five women who settled with Fox News for a combined total of $17m after accusing Mr O’Reilly of inappropriate conduct. Mr O’Reilly has continued to deny the accusations.
The media regulator has come under pressure to consider the behaviour at Fox News as relevant to whether Mr Murdoch’s company should be allowed to buy out the 61 per cent of Sky that it does not already own.
Ms Walsh’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, wrote to Ofcom last month accusing Fox of having a “toxic culture” that fostered an “utter disregard for the rights of women”.
This week, Fox News’ co-president, Bill Shine became the latest senior figure to leave the company. Mr Shine was seen as a close ally of former chairman Roger Ailes. Mr Ailes was ousted in July last year after more than 20 women alleged he had harassed them.
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Mr O’Reilly, who was reportedly paid $18m per year for his top-rated show, was eventually sacked on 19 April , seventeen days after news broke that the channel had paid the settlements on behalf of its star. The decision came after companies pulled millions of dollars of advertising from the show.
Rupert Murdoch's sons, Lachlan and James, reportedly decided it was time for the influential anchorman to go, in disagreement with their father who said they should keep Mr O'Reilly. Fox made the decision to aid the Sky takeover , according to some media analysts.
At the time, Donald Trump expressed his support for Mr O’Reilly, who the President said was a “good person” and “shouldn’t have settled”.
Other allegations against Mr O’Reilly include that he appeared to masturbate while on the telephone to a female producer. He also allegedly told the producer to “buy a vibrator”. Another woman alleges that Mr O'Reilly tried to kiss her in such a way that she fell over.
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