Bill O'Reilly Is 'Sad' That He's 'Not on Television Anymore'

Bill O’Reilly spoke out on his podcast Monday for the first time since his ouster from Fox News following sexual harassment allegations, and he told listeners he expects they will be “shaken” when the “truth” about his departure comes out.

“I am sad that I’m not on television anymore. I was very surprised how it all turned out. I can’t say a lot, because there’s much stuff going on right now,” O’Reilly said on the latest episode of No Spin News. “But I can tell you that I’m very confident the truth will come out, and when it does, I don’t know if you’re going to be surprised — but I think you’re going to be shaken, as I am.”

According to the New York Times, O’Reilly and Fox News parent company 21st Century Fox paid $13 million in settlements to women who accused the host of sexual harassment. After reports of a number of sexual harassment allegations against O’Reilly came to light, 21st Century Fox announced that O’Reilly would “not be returning to the Fox News Channel” on April 19.

O’Reilly called the claims against him “completely unfounded” in a statement the same day, but his Monday podcast episode was his first media activity since he left for a vacation on April 11.

“There’s a lot of stuff involved here,” O’Reilly continued on his podcast. “Now, I can’t say anymore because I just don’t want to influence the flow of the information. I don’t want the media to take what I say and misconstrue it. You, as a loyal O’Reilly listener, have a right to know, I think, down the lane what exactly happened. And we are working in that direction, okay?”

O’Reilly posted the episode to his own website, where he said he plans to begin hosting 15-minute daily podcasts, akin to his former “Talking Points Memo” television segment. The podcast will only be available to paid subscribers after Thursday.

Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com.