Bill O’Reilly Speaks Out On Podcast After Being Axed Over Sexual Harassment Claims

Bill O’Reilly discussed being dismissed from Fox News on a new episode of his podcast released Monday evening.

“I was very surprised how it all turned out,” O’Reilly said on his ”No Spin News" podcast, his first media appearance since signing off of The O’Reilly Factor on April 11. “I can’t say a lot, because there’s much stuff going on right now. 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.

“There’s a lot of stuff involved here,” O’Reilly continued. “Now, I can’t say anymore because I just don’t want to influence the flow of the information. I don’t want the media to take what I say and misconstrue it. However you, as a loyal O’Reilly listener, have a right to know, I think, down the lane what exactly happened. And we are working in that direction, okay?”

It appears that O’Reilly plans on putting more energy into podcasting. He said he plans on extending the length of the podcast, having guests, and turning it into a “genuine news program.”

O’Reilly then discussed headlines: a Washington Post story on Trump’s approval rating, the French election, the Ann Coulter UC Berkeley controversy, and Barack Obama resurfacing in Chicago.

Then, O’Reilly responded to messages from listeners, including one that discussed the statement he released after being fired from Fox News.

“This is from John,” O’Reilly said. “It was definitely old school to wish Fox News the best.”

“Look, I was there for twenty years and six months,” O’Reilly continued. “We made history, put cable news on the map and were successful all that time. No ebb and flow, just straight up graph. You know, that vehicle was fabulous for me and I said in the beginning that I’m sad, but why wouldn’t I wish them the best? They were there, we performed well for them, and that’s the fact.”

He ended the episode saying, “I’m Bill O’Reilly, and we’ll talk to you again tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern Time.”

Although his podcast is usually only available for members, he made his latest episode available Monday night for free. It will remain that way until Sunday.

21st Century Fox, parent company of Fox News, announced last week that O’Reilly would not be returning to his show after an investigation into sexual harassment allegations by several women.

He walked away with as much as $25 million in severance, The Washington Post reported. O’Reilly said in a statement released at the time that it was "tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims."

Although Fox News has distanced itself from its star with the dismissal, the network is far from being out of hot water. On Monday, former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging network staffers hacked her phones and emails after she publicly discussed sexual harassment she faced from Ailes and O’Reilly. Tantaros claims staffers used information obtained through the surveillance to intimidate her.

“Fox News and its executives flatly deny that they conducted any electronic surveillance of Ms. Tantaros,” Fox News’ legal counsel said in a statement. “This lawsuit is a flimsy pretext to keep Ms. Tantaros and her sexual harassment claims in the public eye.”