Gabe Sherman: Murdoch Inclined to Keep O’Reilly and Not ‘Take Orders from NY Times‘

New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman spotlighted a schism inside the Murdoch family over the future of embattled Fox News host Bill O’Reilly during a segment on Sunday’s AM Joy on MSNBC.

Host Joy Reid wondered if O’Reilly would return to the air. Sherman replied by asserting that “there’s a split. Rupert Murdoch, the patriarch of the family, is inclined to try to keep O’Reilly — both because, what I hear inside Fox News — the word, is they do not want to be told what to do by the New York Times.”

The MSNBC guest added, “There’s a sense that Murdoch doesn’t want to be pressured into making a decision.”

Sherman continued that Murdoch’s “sons — especially James Murdoch — who are trying to take the company in a more forward-looking direction — say listen, this is a stain on our name. We need to, sort of, move on, cut ties, and try to bring in a new face. So that’s really the state of play.”

Reid followed up by asking if there was any “internal rumbling” against O’Reilly inside the network. The New York magazine writer underlined, “There is. But the problem is, Fox News is such a profit center. And Rupert Murdoch says, this is a business that makes me over a billion dollars in profit — and some disgruntled employees…are not going to pressure me.”

[image via screengrab]

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