FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2015 file photo, Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Channel program "The O'Reilly Factor," poses for photos in New York. O’Reilly says in a statement posted to his website that he is... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2015 file photo, Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Channel program "The O'Reilly Factor," poses for photos in New York. O’Reilly says in a statement posted to his website that he is... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — 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 report Saturday, and Fox News' parent company 21st Century Fox backed him in a statement. 
 
 The newspaper reported (http://nyti.ms/2nHTteJ ) that 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, which is still dealing with the legal fallout from sexual harassment charges against former Fox News head Roger Ailes, 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. 
 
 Ailes left last summer amid sexual harassment charges, which he has denied. Fox also reportedly fired an executive, Francisco Cortes, after a sexual assault complaint and paid his accuser more than $2.5 million in a settlement. 
 
 News of the settlements capped a difficult few days for O'Reilly, who was criticized earlier this week for saying he had a hard time concentrating on California Rep. Maxine Waters during a speech because he was distracted by her "James Brown wig." O'Reilly later said that his comment about her hair was dumb and apologized. ||||| In this combination photo, former Fox News contributor Wendy Walsh, left, appears at a news conference in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles on Monday, April 3, 2017, and Fox News personality Bill... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this combination photo, former Fox News contributor Wendy Walsh, left, appears at a news conference in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles on Monday, April 3, 2017, and Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly appears on the set of his show, "The O'Reilly Factor" on Oct. 1, 2015 in New York. Walsh... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — A Fox News contributor came forward to level more sexual-harassment allegations against deposed chief executive Roger Ailes on Monday, two days after it was revealed the network's most popular on-air personality, Bill O'Reilly, has settled multiple complaints about his own behavior with women. 
 
 O'Reilly was due to return to the air on Monday following a weekend report in The New York Times that he and his employer had paid five women $13 million to settle allegations of sexual harassment or other inappropriate conduct by Fox's ratings king. 
 
 Meanwhile, the lawyer for another woman who says she was punished for rebuffing O'Reilly's advances called on New York City's Human Rights Commission to investigate O'Reilly's behavior. 
 
 The new lawsuit against Ailes was brought by Fox's Julie Roginsky and is notable because it accuses Fox's current management of trying to cover up for Ailes. 
 
 Roginsky said Ailes, who lost his job last summer following sexual-harassment complaints he has denied, suggested she have sex with "older, married, conservative men." She said Ailes would insist upon a kiss hello at their meetings, requiring her to bend over so he could look down her dress. 
 
 She was seeking a permanent role on Fox's show "The Five." But after an April 2015 meeting at which she turned down Ailes' advances, he wouldn't meet with her again, and she never got the regular role, she said. 
 
 Later, she said, she was pressured to join Team Roger, a group of people who publicly defended Ailes when the first harassment complaint made public against the Fox boss was brought by Gretchen Carlson last summer. Roginsky refused. 
 
 She said that even though Fox executives knew she had her own harassment allegations against Ailes, she was never encouraged to speak to the law firm hired by Fox News parent 21st Century Fox to investigate claims against him. And she said Fox never looked into her charges. Her lawyer would not say Monday why Roginsky never contacted the firm on her own. 
 
 Roginsky said that during a meeting in December, new Fox top executive Bill Shine told her he didn't believe the allegations against Ailes until recently. But the lawsuit alleges Shine and other top Fox executives should have known about Ailes' behavior much earlier. 
 
 "Shine and other senior executives kept Ailes' conduct secret and enabled it," said the lawsuit, filed in state court. 
 
 Fox News representatives did not immediately return messages for comment. 
 
 Roginsky said she believes Shine hasn't given her an opportunity for advancement in retaliation for her harassment complaint and her refusal to speak out against Carlson. 
 
 At a Los Angeles news conference Monday, lawyer Lisa Bloom detailed allegations against O'Reilly by Wendy Walsh, a regular guest on the prime-time show "The O'Reilly Factor." 
 
 Bloom said O'Reilly had told Walsh he would recommend her for a paid contributor role on the network. Walsh and O'Reilly had dinner in Los Angeles in 2013, but when Walsh refused his invitation to go to his hotel room, his attitude changed and she was soon dropped from the show, according to Walsh. 
 
 Bloom was seeking an investigation by the city Human Rights Commission. A spokesman for the commission said no claim had been filed. Claims have to address activity that happened within the city's five boroughs and must be filed within one year of an alleged infraction. 
 
 Walsh said she came forward because she was told by a Times reporter that many of the women who have accused O'Reilly of harassment are bound by gag orders. She said she is not bound by any such agreement, and the statute of limitations for suing has run out. 
 
 "Nobody can silence me because my voice is not for sale," Walsh said. "Nobody can buy my voice." 
 
 O'Reilly said over the weekend he is vulnerable to lawsuits from people who threaten to cause him bad publicity unless they get paid. He said he had "put to rest any controversies" to spare his children. 
 
 O'Reilly's ratings have gone up over the past year with the intense interest in politics. Independent studies show he generates more than $100 million in advertising revenue per year for TV's top-rated cable news network. But at least one advertiser, car company Mercedes-Benz, said it was pulling its ads from the show because of the "disturbing" allegations. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
– 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, the AP reports. O'Reilly posted the statement to his website after the Times report Saturday, and Fox News' parent company 21st Century Fox backed him in a statement. The newspaper reported that 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, which is still dealing with the legal fallout from sexual harassment charges against former Fox News head Roger Ailes, 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.