O'Reilly's life and career have not been without controversy. Progressive media watchdog organizations such as Media

Matters and  Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting  have criticized O'Reilly's reporting on a variety of issues, accusing him of distorting facts and using misleading or erroneous statistics.

After the September the 11th attacks, O'Reilly accused the United Way of America and  American Red Cross  of failing to deliver millions of dollars in donated money, raised by the organizations in the name of the disaster, to the families of those killed in the attacks.

O'Reilly reported that the organizations misrepresented their intentions for the money being raised by not distributing all of the 9/11 relief fund to the victims. Actor  George Clooney  responded, accusing O'Reilly of misstating facts and harming the relief effort by inciting "panic" among potential donors.

Beginning in 2005, O'Reilly periodically denounced  George Tiller,  a Kansas-based physician who specialized in second-and third-trimester abortions, often referring to him as "Tiller the baby killer". Tiller was murdered on May the 31st, 2009, by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist. Critics such as Salon.com's Gabriel Winant have asserted that O'Reilly's anti-Tiller rhetoric helped to create an atmosphere of violence around the doctor. Jay Bookman of The Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote that O'Reilly "clearly went overboard in his condemnation and demonization of Tiller", but added that to link O'Reilly" to Tiller's murder was wrong. O'Reilly has responded to the criticism by saying "no back pedalling here every single thing we said

about Tiller was true."

O'Reilly was the main inspiration for comedian  Stephen Colbert's  satirical character on the Comedy Central show The Colbert Report, which featured Colbert in a "full-dress parody" of The O'Reilly Factor. On the show, Colbert referred to O'Reilly as "Papa Bear". O'Reilly and Colbert exchanged appearances on each other's shows in January 2007.

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Speaking on ABC's Good Morning America on March the 18th,

2003, O'Reilly promised that "if the Americans go in and over

throw Saddam Hussein and it's claim of  weapons of mass 

 destruction  ...I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the

Bush administration again." In another appearance on the same

program on February the 10th, 2004, O'Reilly responded to

repeated requests for him to honour his pledge:

                                                                           "My analysis was

wrong and I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm not pleased about it at all."

With regard to never again trusting the current U.S. government,

he said, "I am much more sceptical of the Bush administration

now than I was at that time."

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In early 2007, researchers from the Indiana University School of

published a report that analysed his "Talking Points Memo"

segment. Using analysis techniques developed in the 1930s by

the Institute for Propaganda Analysis, the study concluded that he

used propaganda, frequently engaged in name calling, and

consistently cast non-Americans as threats and never "in the role

of victim or hero." He responded, asserting that "the terms

'conservative', 'liberal', 'left', 'right', 'progressive', 'traditional' and 'centrist' were considered name-calling if they were associated with a problem or social ill." The study's authors said that those terms were only considered name-calling when linked to derogatory qualifiers.  Fox News producer Ron Mitchell  wrote an op-ed in which he accused the study's authors of seeking to manipulate their research to fit a predetermined outcome. Mitchell argued that by using tools developed for examining propaganda, the researchers presupposed that he propagandized.

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On April 19, 2017, Fox News announced that O'Reilly would not return to their primetime line-up amid public reporting on the tens of millions of dollars he paid to settle the  sexual harassment claims  of six women. The show continued, rebranded as The Factor, now hosted by Dana Perino. On the same day, Fox announced that Tucker Carlson's show would be airing an hour earlier to take over O'Reilly's position, and that The Five will replace Tucker Carlson's usual time at 9 p.m. with a new co-host Jesse Watters. After O'Reilly was fired, the financial markets responded positively to the decision by Fox News, and its parent company 21st Century Fox rose over two percent in the stock market the next day.

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Post-Fox News career

O'Reilly launched a podcast called No Spin News on April 24, 2017, after his departure from Fox News. In August 2017, O'Reilly began digitally streaming a video version of No Spin News.

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In May 2017, O'Reilly began to appear as a recurring Friday guest on the Glenn Beck Radio Program.

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In June 2017, O'Reilly and Dennis Miller co-headlined the public speaking tour, "The Spin Stops Here."

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O'Reilly made his first appearance on Fox News since his sacking on September 26, 2017, being interviewed by Sean Hannity.

O'Reilly was married to  Maureen E. McPhilmy,  a public relations executive. They met in 1992, and their wedding took place

in St. Brigid Parish of Westbury, New York on November 2, 1996. They have a daughter, Madeline (born 1998), and a son, Spencer (born 2003).

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The couple separated on April 2, 2010, and were divorced on September 1, 2011.

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Domestic violence accusation from daughter

In May 2015, court transcripts from O'Reilly's custody trial with ex-wife Maureen McPhilmy revealed signs of domestic violence within the household—O'Reilly's daughter testified to a forensic examiner that she witnessed  O'Reilly choking   McPhilmy  and dragging her down the stairs of their home by her neck, apparently unaware that the daughter was watching. In light of the allegation, O'Reilly issued a statement through his attorney describing the account as "100% false" and declined to comment further in order "to respect the court-mandated confidentiality put in place to protect his children". In February 2016, O'Reilly lost a bid for custody of both of his children.