Hyundai Pulls Planned Ads After “Disturbing Accusations” at Scandal-Plagued “O’Reilly Factor”
The Korean manufacturer follows Mercedes in protesting allegations against host Bill O’Reilly.
Hyundai has announced they're "reallocating" a run of advertisements on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor in the wake of what it calls "disturbing allegations" of host Bill O'Reilly's serial sexual harassment of women and more than $13 million in payouts to accusers.
The commercials hadn't run yet, and the dollar value of the car company's pulling the ads wasn't disclosed, but in an official statement, the Korean manufacturer was unequivocal about the reason why it was placing the footage elsewhere.
"Hyundai currently has no advertising running on The O’Reilly Factor. We had upcoming advertising spots on the show but are reallocating them due to the recent and disturbing allegations. As a company we seek to partner with companies and programming that share our values of inclusion and diversity. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation as we plan future advertising decisions."
This is the second auto manufacturer to yank its ads in 24 hours. Yesterday, Mercedes Benz, which also called the allegations against the 67-year-old O'Reilly "disturbing," pulled its ads.
This weekend, the New York Times reported that more than five women have accused O'Reilly of various forms of sexual coercion and impropriety, and that both the network and the host had paid out as much as $13 million to the accusers.
Fox News is the highest rated cable channel.
