Bill O'Reilly, the Fox News commentator forced to resign in April, agreed to a $US32 million ($A41m) sexual harassment settlement in January, and the network's parent knew about the deal when it gave him a new contract the next month, the New York Times reports.
The previously undisclosed agreement, at least the sixth involving O'Reilly or the company related to harassment charges against him, was "extraordinarily large" for such cases, according to the newspaper, which cited two people "briefed on the matter" as its sources.
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc acknowledged that it had been aware of O'Reilly's settlement with Lis Wiehl, a former Fox News legal analyst, when it signed a contract extension with The O'Reilly Factor host in February.
The company "was informed by Mr O'Reilly that he had settled the matter personally, on financial terms that he and Ms Wiehl had agreed were confidential and not disclosed to the company," 21st Century Fox said in a statement emailed by spokesman Nathaniel Brown.
But according to the Times, Rupert Murdoch and his two sons, Lachlan and James, as top executives of 21st Century Fox, decided in January to retain O'Reilly despite being made aware of the fresh complaints, the Times reported. The next month, the company gave O'Reilly a contract extension worth $US25 million a year.
21st Century Fox said it had added language to the new contract related to harassment, stipulating that O'Reilly faced dismissal if fresh allegations emerged or new information about existing allegations came to light. In April, after advertisers began to flee O'Reilly's show, the company parted ways with O'Reilly, ending the popular commentator's two-decade Fox News career.
The Times reported on April 1 Fox or O'Reilly had paid five women a total of $US13 million to settle harassment claims, before news of the sixth deal emerged. The women either worked for the host or appeared as guests on his program, the paper reported.
