The Discovery Channel distanced itself after a show that aired on the network, which featured disgraced former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, after experiencing backlash.
The former Fox anchor, who was forced to leave the network after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment in 2017, appeared on Pet Tales with Greta, a new show that’s hosted by fellow former Fox host Greta Van Susteren. The show, which is not produced by the Discovery Channel, features Susteren interviewing celebrities about their pets. The episode where she interviewed O’Reilly aired on the network Saturday morning.
A network representative explained that the program is not a part of the network but was aired as paid programming.
”It was an ad buy that ran on a Saturday morning,” a Discovery Channel representative told Yahoo. “It was not produced by and is not a Discovery show. We didn’t make it, we didn’t produce it, it was a sponsored thing.”
Discovery Channel refused to reveal who paid for the episode but added that they would not air another one, according to the Associated Press.
What a disgrace — giving air time @greta to an alleged serial predator – I don’t blame poor Holly — but @Discovery what could you be thinking? Do you have female employees? I mean wtf https://t.co/nK29BAP1o7
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) January 4, 2020
Fellow former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson, the first network employee to come forward and accuse then-network CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment, bashed Susteren for giving O’Reilly airtime.
“What a disgrace — giving air time @greta to an alleged serial predator – I don’t blame poor Holly — but @Discovery what could you be thinking? Do you have female employees? I mean wtf,” she wrote on Twitter. Carlson later tweeted out the network’s statement, commenting, “1) That didn’t take long …. 2) about time … 3) thankfully ….”
Five women with professional ties to O’Reilly accused him of sexual harassment and received payouts totaling $13 million, but he maintains his innocence.
