The financial fallout is growing as the sexual harassment scandal at Fox News spreads.
Mitsubishi Motors, Hyundai Motor Co., BMW of North America and Mercedes-Benz say they’re pulling advertising from top-rated Fox News show “The O’Reilly Factor” because of allegations levied against its host, Bill O’Reilly.
“The allegations are disturbing and, given the importance of women in every aspect of our business, we don’t feel this is a good environment in which to advertise our products right now,” Mercedes, a unit of Daimler, said Monday in a statement. Fox didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The defections show that the growing scrutiny of the treatment of Fox News’s female employees is beginning to have an impact on the business. Until now, the most-watched cable news network has shown little ill effect despite months of negative headlines from the scandal that erupted around Roger Ailes, the former president of the network, leading to his departure in July.
Now allegations are coming to light against O’Reilly, showing that issues of harassment at Fox may not have been limited only to Ailes.