TV One’s Roland Martin gave Bill O’Reilly an overdose of his own medicine Wednesday, showing no mercy in the wake of O’Reilly’s forced departure from Fox News.
The outspoken black TV host said O’Reilly is appropriately finished.
“How fitting that he is being undone by behavior most of us find shameful, despicable and raunchy,” Martin told The Mirror on Wednesday when asked for his thoughts on the O’Reilly flap. “Bill should stop trying to blame George Soros, Media Matters and Black Lives Matter for his downfall. His actions have put him in this position. As he often would tell others, he needs to own it and stop acting like a pinhead and coming up with excuses. These, Bill, are my talking points.”
We’ve all heard the stories about what an amazing father and husband Bill O’Reilly is.
Actually, no, we haven’t.
And there’s no way to sugarcoat this. The aftermath of O’Reilly leaving Fox News Wednesday is ugly. As the news snakes its way around the nation, CNN and MSNBC are hanging onto it for dear life. They won’t stop talking about it. They have to believe that Fox News dumping O’Reilly is ratings gold.
The media got it almost right.
WSJ reported Tuesday that O’Reilly was on his way out. The Murdochs were reportedly having a serious meeting on Thursday to determine O’Reilly’s fate. MSNBC spent Wednesday salivating over O’Reilly’s head on the chopping block until the news of his demise arrived.
Meanwhile, the big guy in hot water was vacationing in Italy. He’s flying home Wednesday night.
O’Reilly’s final accuser before the network dropped the gauntlet was an unidentified black female clerical worker who claimed that the Fox News host treated her more like a piece of ass than a human. He allegedly called her “Hot Chocolate,” leered at her and said things like “Looking good, girl.” O’Reilly has denied all of the allegations from any woman who has ever accused him of sexual harassment. In a farewell statement, he called the accusations “unfounded claims.” The black woman’s lawyer is Lisa Bloom, daughter of the famed Gloria Allred, who represented many of the women who claimed they were drugged and sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby.
But the week wasn’t all bad news for O’Reilly.
On Wednesday night, the famed Carl Bernstein showered him with praise on CNN.
“O’Reilly is a great TV performer,” he said on AC360. “Don’t take that away from him any more than you would take away from Donald Trump what a great performer he is in terms of bringing along an audience and getting that audience into believe in him and his belief system.”
Late Tuesday, O’Reilly also found a fan and a black, female defender in Deneen Borelli, a Fox News contributor who has appeared on his program about a dozen times, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She told the pub that “nothing inappropriate” ever happened between her and O’Reilly.
She said he complimented her — but in a religious way that wasn’t sexual.
“The one time he commented on me personally, he admired a cross I was wearing, saying he bought one for his daughter that was very similar to mine,” Borelli said.
Martin initially replied to The Mirror with a single word as his response.
“Karma,” he said.
Martin explained, “For nearly two decades Bill O’Reilly has used his bully pulpit to berate numerous Americans to conform to his morals and values. He has issued his decrees as if he was Moses, descending from the mountains with two tablets. Now we come to find out that those same morals and values were merely a narcissistic front for a man who used his power and influence to subjugate women to his beck and call.”
In the end, Martin says, Fox News does the following: “I think they move Tucker Carlson to 8. They add a female host at 9. Leave Trump’s mouthpiece [Sean Hannity] at 10.”
Martin got two out of three right.
Yes, Carlson will replace O’Reilly at 8 p.m. And yes, Hannity will stay at 10 p.m.
For now, the 9 p.m. slot goes to “The Five.”