Gretchen Carlson slams Sean Hannity for courting 'accused sexual predator' Bill O'Reilly back to Fox News

Taryn Ryder
Updated

Former Fox News employees Gretchen Carlson, Julie Roginsky and Diana Falzone slammed Sean Hannity for begging "accused sexual predator" Bill O'Reilly to return to Fox News. Hannity interviewed O'Reilly on his radio show Tuesday and urged his former colleague return to the network.

"By the way, I keep offering you, go back on Fox, and — " said Hannity.

Photo: Getty Images
Sean Hannity, Gretchen Carlson and Bill O'Reilly. (Photo: Getty Images)

"Yeah and why do I want to do that?" O'Reilly replied. "So I can have security guards go with me everywhere, like I used to?"

"No, so that you take the number one slot. I can tell you it's easier being number two because we'll end... the year again number one in all of cable, and with that comes all the crap associated with it," noted Hannity.

"You bet, and — but your listeners should understand there is a price to pay for being a traditional conservative American in this country," added O'Reilly.

O'Reilly, formerly the top-rated cable host, was forced out in 2017 after multiple settlements related to sexual harassment were disclosed. Carlson, Roginsky and Falzone once again demanded Fox News release victims from their non-disclosure agreements "so that the public can have a much clearer understanding of why Mr. Hannity's words are so egregious in this respect."

"It is ironic that a man accused of sexual harassment over the course of many years by many different women is being courted to return to Fox News by its most prominent on-air personality, while his many victims and other survivors of sexual harassment at that same network continue to be bound by onerous confidentiality provisions that prevent them from disclosing what those harassers said or did to them," their statement begins.

"It is also ironic that many women are bound by no-rehire provisions, which prevent them from getting their jobs back, even as Mr. Hannity is all but begging his network to rehire an accused sexual predator," they continue. "This exchange once again demonstrates how far we have yet to go in ensuring that survivors of sexual assault and harassment are treated with even the modicum of respect and deference that Sean Hannity has shown an alleged serial predator."

In another message, Carlson tweeted Hannity thanks "for polluting our country with your bs."

Fox News did not immediately respond to Yahoo Entertainment's request for comment.

Earlier this month, NBCUniversal announced it was releasing employees from their NDAs in the wake of Ronan Farrow's book Catch and Kill. Carlson, who was the first woman to publicly accuse Fox News chairman Roger Ailes of sexual harassment, asked Fox News to follow suit.

"All women at Fox News and beyond forced to sign NDAs should be released from them immediately, giving them back the voices they deserve," she told Vanity Fair last month. "None of us asked to get into a workplace dispute. We simply had the courage to stand up and say something — but in the end it’s our voices no one can hear. Because of our NDAs, we can never say what is factually correct or incorrect about what happened to us at Fox."

Carlson's story inspired the upcoming film Bombshell, where she is portrayed by Nicole Kidman, as well as Showtime's The Loudest Voice. She was unable to participate in either project.

"Because of our NDAs, movies and television projects are being produced, but the women muzzled can’t comment on them," Carlson told the magazine. "Because of our NDAs, others can continue to spread mistruths and deny our claims, knowing full well we can’t say a thing."

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