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US insurance giant Allstate, which also has offices in Canada, has pulled its advertising from a top-rated Fox News show as a sexual harassment scandal at the network widens.
Allstate is one of several companies to pull its ads from The O’Reilly Factor because of multiple sexual-harassment allegations leveled at host Bill O’Reilly.
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“Inclusivity and support for women are important Allstate values,” the company told CNN Money. “We are concerned about the issues surrounding the program and we have suspended our advertising.”
Fox News was also at the centre of a sexual-harassment scandal last year. In July, then-network president Roger Ailes was forced out after multiple allegations of harassment were lodged against him. However, the scandal appeared to have little effect on ratings or advertising for the nation’s most-watched cable news network.
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Now, however, the continued scandal is beginning to have an impact on the business, according to a Bloomberg report. Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that five women had received payment from either Fox or O’Reilly himself in exchange for agreeing not to sue for sexual harassment. Shares of corporate parent company 21st Century Fox dropped 1.2% to $31.78 at 1:48 EST on Tuesday. Through Monday, the stock was up 12% over the previous year, according to Bloomberg. That was due in large part to Fox News and O’Reilly, the network’s top host.
Fox News has said it is standing by O’Reilly. The host, for his part, said he was a target for allegations of sexual harassment because of his prominence.
