Fox dumps popular host Bill O'Reilly

Fox News on Wednesday severed its relationship with Bill O'Reilly, sacking its biggest star and America's most-watched cable news anchor over a flood of sexual harassment allegations and crashing advertising sales.

It was a stunning fall from grace for one of the biggest US media names, a veteran broadcaster at Fox News for two decades, who counted President Donald Trump among his personal supporters and whose ratings had soared regardless of alleged abusive behavior towards women dating back years.

But the departure of major advertisers, worried about the knock-on effect of being associated with "The O'Reilly Factor," ultimately sealed his fate as the Murdoch family, which owns the corporation, flexes their might in a global marketplace.

"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," 21st Century Fox said in simple, one-sentence statement.

O'Reilly had rarely been out of the headlines since a New York Times investigation revealed on April 1 that he and Fox paid five women a total of $13 million in cases spanning 15 years, in exchange for silence about his alleged behavior.