Fox News will no longer even respond to questions about whether Bill O'Reilly will return to his show. 
 
 A well-placed source said Tuesday afternoon that representatives for Fox and O'Reilly have begun talking about an exit. But this prompted a denial from sources in O'Reilly's camp. 
 
 Even one person close to O'Reilly, however, said he will probably not be back on "The O'Reilly Factor." 
 
 The original well-placed source said an announcement about O'Reilly's fate was likely by the end of the week. 
 
 The fact that none of these sources were willing to go on the record speaks to the delicate maneuvering underway. 
 
 The network's parent company, 21st Century Fox (FOX), will hold a board meeting on Thursday, a spokeswoman told CNNMoney. One of the sources said O'Reilly will be a primary topic. 
 
 The Murdochs, the men who control 21st Century Fox, are pointedly not commenting on any of this. 
 
 But conversations inside Fox have already turned to possible O'Reilly successors. 
 
 New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman, the author of a biography about ex-Fox News boss Roger Ailes, reported Tuesday that "the Murdochs are leaning toward announcing that O'Reilly will not return to the air." 
 
 Sherman cited "three sources with knowledge of the discussions" and said "no final decision has been made." 
 
 As CNNMoney has previously reported, there had been a split between Rupert Murdoch, the company's patriarch, and his sons James and Lachlan, with James advocating for O'Reilly's ouster. Lachlan was previously said to be in the middle. Sherman said Tuesday that Lachlan has "leaned more in his brother James's direction" in recent days. 
 
 All of this is a reaction to a New York Times story about the settlement payments that O'Reilly, Fox and 21st Century Fox paid to women who accused O'Reilly of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. 
 
 Last week 21st Century Fox confirmed that an outside law firm was investigating allegations against O'Reilly. 
 
 The same firm -- Paul, Weiss -- played an instrumental role in the eventual resignation of Ailes last summer. 
 
 O'Reilly's allies feel that he has been unfairly demonized by his accusers and a biased news media. 
 
 His opponents, including some influential voices inside 21st Century Fox, feel that O'Reilly has behaved badly over the years, that his behavior has been exposed, and that it's inappropriate for Fox News to continue his show. 
 
 "The O'Reilly Factor" is by far the highest-rated program on cable news. But most of O'Reilly's advertisers abandoned the show in the wake of the Times' story. 
 
 O'Reilly began a pre-planned vacation to Italy last week. When he announced the vacation on air, Fox News and O'Reilly's own outside spokesman said he'd be back on the "Factor" on April 24. Guest hosts are filling in this week. 
 
 O'Reilly remains in Italy while his team of agents and lawyers in New York work on his behalf. 
 
 Some sources on O'Reilly's side said that, as of Tuesday afternoon, they still expect he'll be back on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Monday. 
 
 But they acknowledged that none of them know for sure. 
 
 Fox recently renewed O'Reilly's contract with the knowledge that the Times' story was in the works. 
 
 The Times reported that the new deal was structured to give Fox "more leverage over him regarding his behavior." 
 
 That could be a factor in negotiations now. 
 
 If O'Reilly does resign, or if Fox takes him off the air, he'd be the third major player to leave the network in the span of nine months. Ailes' resignation last July was the result of sexual harassment charges by women at the network, including Megyn Kelly, who herself left Fox in January. O'Reilly defended Ailes when the women first came forward. 
 
 Kelly decided to leave Fox News in January. She is launching two new shows on NBC later this year. 
 
 Fox's audience has remained extraordinarily loyal to the network amid all of the off-air controversies. 
 
 And many of O'Reilly's fans are waiting for him to get back from vacation. 
 
 But on Tuesday, Fox would no longer confirm his April 24 return date. 
 
 When asked, "Will O'Reilly be returning to the Factor on April 24?," the Murdochs' top spokesperson did not respond. 
 
 -- CNN's Dylan Byers contributed reporting. ||||| Was tonight Bill O’Reilly‘s last show? 
 
 That’s a possibility according to New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman — whose previous reporting on the network has been mostly accurate, including much of his reporting leading up to the departure of former Fox News head Roger Ailes. 
 
 In a report for the magazine’s website Tuesday night, Sherman cited four unnamed sources at the network as saying “there’s talk that tonight’s show could be his last.” 
 
 O’Reilly announced during the broadcast that he was taking a vacation. But Sherman cites two “highly-placed” sources as saying 21st Century FOX CEO James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, wants O’Reilly out. 
 
 The highly-rated host has been under fire over the past few weeks amid reports of paid settlements to multiple women who accused the top-rated host of sexual harassment. 
 
 A Fox News spokesperson refuted Sherman’s report, telling Mediaite that O’Reilly’s vacation was preplanned and that the embattled host will return on April 24. 
 
 [image via screengrab] 
 
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 Follow Joe DePaolo (@joe_depaolo) on Twitter 
 
 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| On vacation. 
 
 Embattled Fox News host Bill O’Reilly announced tonight that he is taking a vacation. O’Reilly’s decision to go off the air in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal and advertiser boycott arguably has the appearance of a suspension, but O’Reilly worked to dispel that notion. He announced that he’d scheduled his trip “last fall” — well before the New York Times reported he paid $13 million to settle harassment claims. A Fox News spokesperson confirmed O’Reilly will return on April 24. 
 
 Here’s how O’Reilly talked about his vacation on the show Tuesday night. 
 
 But according to four network sources, there’s talk inside Fox News that tonight’s show could be his last. Lawyers for the law firm Paul, Weiss, hired last summer by 21st Century Fox to investigate Roger Ailes, are currently doing a “deep dive” investigation into O’Reilly’s behavior. They’re focused now on sexual harassment claims by O’Reilly guest Wendy Walsh after she reported her claims via the company’s anonymous hotline. 
 
 Fox News co-president Bill Shine has been working hard to keep O’Reilly, sources said. But O’Reilly’s future is in the hands of the Murdochs. “It’s up to the family,” the senior Fox News staffer said. The Murdochs are presently divided over how to handle it. Two highly placed Fox News sources say 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch would like O’Reilly to be permanently taken off the air, while his father, Rupert, and older brother, Lachlan, are more inclined to keep him. (A spokesperson for the Murdochs declined to comment.) 
 
 That dynamic — James pushing for swift action, while Rupert resists — played out last summer in the Ailes scandal. James, of course, got his way with Ailes. With more than three dozen advertisers boycotting O’Reilly, Fox staffers speculate the same may happen to O’Reilly, perhaps as early as during his vacation. “The assumption is that he’ll exit in a non-embarrassing way,” one senior Fox News staffer told me.
– Amid sexual harassment allegations and an exodus of advertisers from The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly is on vacation—or, as the Washington Post puts it, on "vacation." In a report that Fox has refuted, New York's Gabriel Sherman says several high-placed sources have told him that Tuesday night's show will be O'Reilly's last. Sherman says his Fox sources have told him that in a Murdoch family split similar to the one that preceded the departure of Roger Ailes last year, Fox CEO James Murdoch wants O'Reilly gone for good, while brother Lachlan and father Rupert Murdoch want him to stay. Sherman says lawyers who looked into Ailes' behavior are now taking a "deep dive" into list of allegations against O'Reilly. Mediaite notes that Sherman's sources have been spot-on about Fox developments the past, though a Fox spokesperson says O'Reilly's vacation was planned before the allegations surfaced and he will be back on the air April 24. O'Reilly said the same when he announced the vacation at the end of his show Tuesday night, the AP reports. "We all need R&R," said O'Reilly, who told viewers he usually takes a break around this time of year and he booked this trip last fall. This year, The O'Reilly Factor has had its best viewing figures in its 20-year history, though around 60 companies have pulled ads from the show, which now only has about half as much advertising time as it did a few weeks ago, the Post reports.