Bill O’Reilly faces a very tough comeback.

Bill O’Reilly, shown in this 2016 photo, had originally
planned to return to his nightly show
on April 24 after taking a “long-planned break”
(AFP Photo/Ilya S. Savenok)

Up until a blink of an eye ago, Bill O’Reilly was the strongest franchise at the strongest cable news channel in America. But his rapid fall from Fox News (FOXA) amid allegations of repeated sexual harassment could leave the conservative star in a deep hole that’s hard to dig out of.

Second acts (and third acts, and fourth…) are a hallmark of the American experience. Bill Clinton became popular again after a tawdry White House affair, and a sex tape launched Kim Kardashian to fame and fortune, rather than ignominy. But O’Reilly has earned a different form of notoriety. “If Bill O’Reilly is toxic enough that Fox News is dropping him, I’m wondering what other media organization would want to take a chance,” says John Carroll, a mass communications professor at Boston University. “He could possibly go to RT [the English-language Russian network]. I’m sure the Russians would love to have him.”

O’Reilly, 67, reportedly earned $18 million per year at Fox News, and millions more from a series of historical books, and associated film and TV rights. So he ought to have an adequate nest egg should he retire quietly. But that’s not O’Reilly’s style, and if he continues on as a public persona, his options may be limited.



By Rick Newman.
Full story at Yahoo News.