• Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said Saturday that he is "vulnerable to lawsuits" because of his high-profile job, in response to a New York Times report detailing payouts made to settle accusations of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior. O'Reilly posted the statement to his website after the Times released its report Saturday, and Fox News' parent company 21st Century Fox backed him in a statement. The newspaper reported either O'Reilly or 21st Century Fox have paid $13 million to five women since 2002 over these complaints "in exchange for agreeing to not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations against him." The story said more than 60 people were interviewed, including current and former employees of Fox News or its parent company and people who know the women behind the complaints or are close to O'Reilly. Most demanded anonymity. 21st Century Fox did not reply to questions about the O'Reilly payouts or whether any disciplinary action was taken against O'Reilly. But the company said in a statement that it had looked into "these matters" in the past few months and discussed them with O'Reilly. The company said O'Reilly denied the merits of "these claims" but has "resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility." The company said it "takes matters of workplace behavior very seriously" and that "Mr. O'Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News." O'Reilly's statement did not deny the payments. "Just like other prominent and controversial people, I'm vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity," it said. Requests for comments sent to a lawyer and a spokesman for O'Reilly were not immediately answered.
• Bob Dylan finally has accepted his Nobel literature diploma and medal. A member of the Swedish Academy said the 75-year-old American singer/songwriter, who gave a concert in Stockholm on Saturday night, received his award during a small afternoon gathering at a nearby hotel with just academy members and a member of Dylan's staff present. Klas Ostergren of the Swedish Academy said "it went very well indeed" and that Dylan was "a very nice, kind man." Other members of the academy told Swedish media that Dylan seemed pleased by the award. Dylan did not mention anything about receiving the Nobel at his concert later that night.
A Section on 04/02/2017