Advertisers abandon Bill O'Reilly after new sexual harassment allegations unearthed

At least 18 companies have pulled their advertising from the right-wing Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly's evening show after fresh allegations of sexual harassment were reported by the New York Times over the weekend.

According to that investigation, Fox and O'Reilly had paid out around $13m (£10m) to halt potential legal action against O'Reilly, on claims including sexual harassment and verbal abuse.

In a statement on his website, the conservative host said that "just like other prominent and controversial people", he is "vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity." The statement did not address the money paid out.

As of Tuesday (4 April) evening, CNN reported that 18 companies had so far removed their advertising from the 67-year-old's flagship show, The O'Reilly Factor, in response to the claims.

The channel also reported a statement from the executive vice president of advertising sales at Fox News, saying that they "are working with [companies] to address their current concerns about The O'Reilly Factor."

The statement also suggested that advertisers who had left O'Reilly had instead been shifted to other shows on the network, lessening the damage to the channel's revenue

O'Reilly's show brought Fox $178m in advertising revenue in 2015 and $188.6m in the first nine months of 2016, according to research firm Kantar Media.

Firms including BMW, Hyundai, GlaxoSmithKline and Mitsubishi are all among those pulling out of the show. The O'Reilly Factor brings in the most revenue of Fox News's programming, analysts said.