Sean Hannity reacted to Fox News CEO Roger Ailes' claim that Bill O'Reilly "hates" him — and to O'Reilly's joking half-confirmation of the charge.
Hannity was speaking to Don Imus on his Wednesday Fox Business show. Imus steered the conversation to the comments their boss said in a Newsweek profile a few weeks prior. Ailes said that O'Reilly hated Hannity because he was jealous about Hannity's radio show success.
Rumors of animosity between the two are not exactly new, but Ailes pushed the idea back into the limelight.
Imus then spoke to O'Reilly about the comments. O'Reilly said that it was "absolutely true" that he hated Hannity, but added that he hated "everyone."
Naturally, Imus couldn't resist asking Hannity. "Mr. Ailes said...that O'Reilly hates you and Rush [Limbaugh]. Did you know that?" he said.
Hannity chuckled. "You know, I had no idea it had to do with radio. I thought all these years it was because I was so much younger and had a lot more hair than he did." After a short pause, he added, "you know actually, I was a little surprised because I had done a lot of big things to help Bill out over the years."
He added that he would take O'Reilly at his word when he said he hated everyone. "I just hope he doesn't hate the folks though that he's supposed to be looking out for," he said.
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