Bill O’Reilly won’t be devoting time on his show to the national buzz over Bruce Jenner‘s transition, revealed in a cover story in Vanity Fair this week. In a wide-ranging interview with WWD, –which was done before the Vanity Fair story was published–O’Reilly said “I really have no interest in the story at all. I don’t think it will rise to a national story. But I wish Bruce Jenner well. If he’s happy, I’m happy.”
O’Reilly, who often notes the ratings power of Fox News, says that does not mean the network is “mainstream media,” which he often calls out on his show. “Fox is a maverick organization. It’s a $2 billion company [but] it’s maverick. We are outside the conventional wisdom. There’s a different way of going about things here at Fox News Corp.”
O’Reilly has said little about a nasty custody fight that ended two weeks ago, WWD reports. But he did comment briefly when asked about media coverage of his case:
You’ve declined to directly address the current controversy apart from the statement issued by your lawyer, but in regards to the media scrutiny surrounding it, how do you respond?
After 19 years, I have come to expect personal attacks by some in the media. Nothing I can do about it. If the USA had the same libel laws that Great Britain has, the sliming might let up a bit. But until then, nothing will change. Opposing my opinions on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is valid if done responsibly. I have no problem with that.
As far as recent attacks on his reporting for CBS News decades ago, O’Reilly was blunt. “Everyone knows what the game is — get O’Reilly.”