Sex Sells, Sexual Harassment Does Not

The king is dead. Long live the king. The king of "the no-spin zone" was fired after weeks, or years, of speculation. How many complaints? How many women would have to come forward to say that they had unwanted advances and comments lobbed at them by the king? How many complaints needed to be lodged? The bottom line, one might expect was human decency.
Or cash money.
Since 2004, Fox News has paid out more than thirteen million dollars in settlements to the victims of Bill O'Reilly's sexual harassment. I'll just go ahead and presume guilt because I am not an officer of the court. Well, unless you count the court of public opinion, for which I consider myself judge, jury and elocutionist. Line up to take your swings at Mister O'Reilly's legacy now, since he could be creeping back into the public eye at any minute. Within hours of the announcement that Bill was being let go by the network that supported him and his vitriol after twenty-one years, speculation about where he might pop up again, Back to CBS? Back to ABC? How about some other alt right outlet looking for some star power?
Considering the way big advertisers leaped off the O'Reilly boat starting at the beginning of April, it's hard to imagine that anyone would want to take on a big salary that wouldn't guarantee big revenues to cover that big paycheck. It is not what most would consider to be a good investment. At this moment, there are those who are lauding Bill's former employer for "doing the right thing." Rupert Murdoch never made a decision that was driven by public sentiment. He's a bottom line guy. How else could the way the Simpsons toss shade at their corporate bedfellows on such a regular basis without some sort of purge or creative crackdown? Homer and his little yellow family make money. They have big name advertisers. They may make meals out of the hand that feeds them, but if their Fox handlers can continue to pay for prosthetic limbs, keep it coming.
By contrast, the weasels at Fox (forgive the mixed metaphor) found themselves standing over the trap holding their fallen star and they gnawed his leg off to free him. Missing that foot may make it harder to keep from spinning, but my guess is that he will always drift to the right.
For now, enjoy turning on your television just a little more, but keep an eye out for The Bill Show, sponsored by Jello.