LONDON (AP) – A U.K. scandal torpedoed Rupert Murdoch’s first attempt to take control of British-based broadcaster Sky. Now claims of sexual harassment at his U.S.-based Fox News are creating storm clouds around a second.
A woman who says she was mistreated by former Fox TV star Bill O’Reilly is calling on British regulators to reject 21st Century Fox’s bid to buy the 61 percent of Sky that it doesn’t already own, saying the deal would allow Fox to bring a culture of sexual and racial harassment to the U.K.
Experts say that on current evidence the claims are unlikely to derail the bid for Sky, though it’s still too early to know for sure. The takeover values Sky, which broadcasts Premier League soccer and top film offerings across Europe, at 18.5 billion pounds ($24 billion).
For Fox, the situation is all too reminiscent of Britain’s phone-hacking scandal, in which journalists working for Murdoch newspapers were accused of gaining illegal access to the voicemail messages of celebrities, members of the royal family and crime victims. Murdoch’s News Corp. withdrew its previous bid for Sky in 2012, amid fallout from the scandal.
News Corp. in 2013 split itself into two companies, with 21st Century Fox focusing on broadcast and cable television, as well as film and TV studios.