Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said he thinks “very highly” of former Fox News star Bill O’Reilly — who was recently fired amid a series of sexual harassment allegations — according to Politico’s Hadas Gold, who tweeted that Ruddy would be “very open” to hiring him.
Ruddy is a longtime friend of President Trump, who is also a known friend of O’Reilly. Trump and O’Reilly were often spotted attending New York Yankees games together before the president entered the political world.
A recent story in The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that people “inside the White House” have “urged” Ruddy to bring O’Reilly to Newsmax. An O’Reilly spokesperson told Politico that they “aren’t commenting at the moment on any of this speculation.”
Newsmax is a conservative brand that operates both a magazine, cable channel and a website.
O’Reilly was fired last month following a New York Times report that he and the network had paid out $13 million to five women who accused him of harassment or misconduct. He was the face of Fox News for 20 years and had been the most-watched host in cable news for over a decade.
“I am sad that I’m not on television anymore,” O’Reilly recently said on his podcast. “But I can tell you that I’m very confident the truth will come out, and when it does, I don’t know if you’re going to be surprised — but I think you’re going to be shaken, as I am.”
A gig at Newsmax would allow O’Reilly to continue his television career and provide the conservative brand with plenty of attention.