Bill O’Reilly, 76, Steps Away From Show Due to Mystery Illness
The former Fox News host said he was putting his podcast on pause while he is treated for an undisclosed illness.
Right-wing commentator Bill O’Reilly has made a cryptic announcement to his fans, saying he is stepping away from hosting his No Spin News podcast to deal with an unspecified health issue.
“Hey No Spin Nation. Sorry I am dealing with a malady. We have great doctors so we’ll fight the good fight,” the 76-year-old wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.
O’Reilly, who hosted The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News for more than 20 years until he was fired in 2017 over sexual harassment allegations, said he was hoping to be “back in the saddle shortly.”
He said that the illness “Doesn’t affect my fingers so will update you on me, news cycle, and anything major.”
Bill O'Reilly says his fingers are fine.
NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via
O’Reilly was a prominent figure in conservative media in the 2000s and 2010s, covering the Bush and Obama administrations for more than two decades on Fox News.
O'Reilly was the go-to political pundit for conservatives across two decades of two presidencies.
O’Reilly was unceremoniously removed from his long-time hosting position at Fox News in 2017 after a bombshell New York Times investigation. The report stated that O’Reilly had faced various sexual harassment lawsuits over his decades-long tenure at the network, paying out tens of millions to at least six women in settlements.
The report said that O’Reilly paid $32 million to a Fox News colleague, longtime legal analyst Lis Wiehl, in January 2017. A month later, Fox signed a new contract with O’Reilly, increasing his yearly salary from $18 million to $25 million a year.
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However, he was sacked in April 2017 after advertisers started fleeing his show following The New York Times expose.
He has called the 2017 dispute an instance of “journalistic assassination” and continues to maintain his innocence. O’Reilly said at the time, “It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims.”
O'Reilly has settled sexual harassment cases with payouts that range into the tens of millions.
AP Photo (2)
However, the former broadcaster has continued to seek out the limelight through alternative platforms since his dismissal from the mainstream. Soon after the controversy, O’Reilly started a podcast called No Spin News, which later evolved into a web show for the conservative network The First.
He’s also continued writing several books; his newest, Confronting Evil: Assessing the Worst of the Worst, was published in 2025 and became a bestseller.
O’Reilly is also a regular on NewsNation as a conservative voice. Adding to the intrigue, host Chris Cuomo said during his show that his regular sparring partner is sick and that “He’ll be back soon.”
Chris Cuomo hosts the show "CUOMO" for NewsNation.
John Lamparski/Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva
There is no timeline for when O’Reilly will return to making media appearances.
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