Bill O’Reilly is in hot water after being caught on camera berating an airline worker over a delayed flight.
“You’re going to lose your job,” the former host of Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” told the JetBlue worker after his flight Sunday to the Turks and Caicos Islands was delayed for hours at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The video showing the conservative commentator chastising and arguing with the employee was captured by another passenger.
In the video, the exchange escalated into an argument before O’Reilly demanded that the employee track down a manager over the situation.
“We need to know what you’re going to do,” O’Reilly says in the video. “It’s three hours late now.”
When the employee began to respond, O’Reilly held up a hand to shut him down. “No, no, no,” he said, pointing a finger at the man’s chest. “You’re going to find out.”
The incident grew more tense when O’Reilly stepped closer to the employee to read his name tag before saying, “You’re lucky I don’t put my fist through it.”
The worker’s response can barely be heard, but O’Reilly then said, “You fucking scumbag, don’t talk to me like that.”
The JetBlue employee responded, “You’re threatening me with violence, man,” which O’Reilly denies before saying, “You’re the one ― I dare you? I dare you? Is that what you said to me?”
Although O’Reilly was seen berating and threatening the worker, he denies any wrongdoing and blames the employee.
After DailyMail.com released the video of the confrontation, O’Reilly posted an explanation on Twitter.
“The character assassins on social media completely lying about my interaction with a JetBlue guy who misled passengers during a five-hour delay. We’ve covered on BillOReilly.com. I expected this,” he wrote in the post.
O’Reilly isn’t known for his calm. The former conservative TV host made headlines in the early 1990s after he exploded on camera over a teleprompter malfunction during an “Inside Edition” broadcast.
The incident and his words “Fuck it! We’ll do it live” went viral in 2008 when a user uploaded a video of the debacle.