Former Fox News staffers speak out after Sean Hannity invited Bill O'Reilly back to Fox News following his 2017 departure amid sexual harassment allegations

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A composite image showing for news host Sean Hannity speaking on Fox News in November 2019 and former Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly speaking on his former show, 'The O'Reilly Factor.'

• Three former Fox News staffers released a joint statement condemning host Sean Hannity's suggestion that former host Bill O'Reilly should return to the channel.
• O'Reilly left Fox News in 2017 after reports of multiple sexual harassment allegations, which he denies.
• Hannity told O'Reilly on his radio show on Tuesday: "I keep offering you, go back on Fox."
• The former reporters and show hosts said it was "ironic that a man accused of sexual harassment over the course of many years by many different women is being courted to return to Fox News."
• They noted that because of non-disclosure agreements they are unable to speak publicly about their allegations.
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A group of former Fox News journalists spoke out after host Sean Hannity invited former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly back to the network after he left following multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

Hannity had O'Reilly on his radio show "The Sean Hannity Show," on Tuesday to discuss a recent interview O'Reilly conducted with President Donald Trump.

During the show, Hannity told O'Reilly: "I keep offering you, go back on Fox."

Three former staffers, Diana Falzone, Gretchen Carlson, and Julie Roginsky, wrote in a joint statement that Hannity's comment "demonstrates how far we have yet to go in ensuring that survivors of sexual assault and harassment are treated with even the modicum of respect that Hannity has shown an alleged serial predator."

Falzone is a former Fox News reporter, while Carlson is a former "Fox & Friends" host, and Roginsky is a former contributor and "Outnumbered" host.

Both Roginsky and Carlson previously filed sexual harassment lawsuits against Fox News, and both women have been vocal in saying that the network should release them, and other women who filed claims, from non-disclosure agreements. 

Falzone also filed a lawsuit against Fox News in 2017, alleging gender discrimination.

O'Reilly left Fox News in April 2017, the same month that the New York Times reported that he had paid around $13 million to five women who had accused him of sexual harassment.

The New York Times reported again in October 2017, after he left Fox News, that O'Reilly had paid $32 million to settle an allegation by a network analyst after he left the company.

O'Reilly denies all the allegations. Fox News's parent company, 21st Century Fox, identified the allegations in its statement about his departure. 

"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," it said in the April 2017 statement.

O'Reilly responded to Hannity's encouragement to return to Fox News on Tuesday by saying: "Yeah, and why do I want to do that? So I can have security guards go with me everywhere, like I used to?"

Hannity then said: "No, so that you take the No. 1 slot," speaking about Fox News's lineup.

Ben Gabbe/Getty Images

Gretchen Carlson, one of three women who issued a joint statement about Hannity's comments.

The transcript of Hannity's radio show, which is broadcast on Premiere Radio Networks and not by Fox News, was shared by media non-profit group Media Matters.

Before he left Fox News O'Reilly's show "The O'Reilly Factor" was the network's most-watched.

The Hill reported that O'Reilly appeared as a guest on Hannity's Fox News program in September 2017, and has made multiple appearances on his radio show since.

The statement from the former staffers said that it was "ironic that a man accused of sexual harassment over the course of many years by many different women is being courted to return to Fox News by its most prominent on-air personality, while his many victims and other survivors of sexual harassment at the same network continue to be bound by onerous confidentiality provisions that prevent them from disclosing what those harassers said or did to them."

The statement also said that: "We call - again - for Fox News to release all women from non-disclosure agreements, so that the public can have a much-clearer understanding of why Mr. Hannity's words are so egregious in this respect."