Mercedes Drops O’Reilly’s Show Over Sex Scandal

CNN reports:

Mercedes-Benz said Monday that it has “reassigned” its advertisements on “The O’Reilly Factor” following a report about five settlements with women who alleged sexual harassment or verbal abuse by the show’s host, Bill O’Reilly. In a statement provided to CNNMoney, a spokesperson for the car company called the allegations against O’Reilly “disturbing.”

“Yes, we had advertising running on The O’Reilly Factor (we run on most major cable news shows) and it has been reassigned in the midst of this controversy,” said Donna Boland, the manager of corporate communications at Mercedes-Benz. “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.”

The show has obvious appeal for advertisers. For the 14th year in a row, “The O’Reilly Factor” finished 2016 as the no. 1 program in cable news. It’s also coming off its highest-rated quarter in history, breaking cable news records with four million viewers a night during the first three months of 2017.

CNN reached out to more than 20 other companies that advertise during O’Reilly’s show. Most declined to comment or said they are monitoring the situation. Fox renewed O’Reilly’s contract over the weekend.