Right-wing pundit and former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly is threatening to sue a Politico reporter over an article revealing that sales for his “History Tour” with former President Donald Trump were low.
Citing venue ticketing officials, Politico reported Friday that tickets for the tour, which has four stops scheduled at locations in Texas and Florida this December, went on sale June 14, though venue officials said sales have so far been slow compared with other events held at the arenas.
As noted by Saon, “Trump and O’Reilly last month announced that they would join forces for something called “The History Tour,” which will feature interviews that “provide a never-before-heard inside view of his administration — which will be historical in and of itself.” Trump vowed that the interviews would be “hard-hitting sessions” but also “fun, fun, fun, for everyone who attends.”
However, people are not showing interest in the event. For example, a box office employee at Orlando, Fla.’s 20,000-person Amway Center, which will host Trump and O’Reilly on Dec. 12, told Politico, “There’s still a lot of tickets open.”
“We have concerts that are doing a lot better than this,” the employee said, according to Politico.
The employee said that a Bad Bunny concert scheduled for March at the arena sold out in two days and that tickets for a Dec. 3 Kane Brown concert were almost gone.
Employees at Houston’s Toyota Center, Dallas’s American Airlines Center and Sunrise, Fla.’s BB&T Center all said that a large portion of seats for the Trump-O’Reilly tour remain unsold, with a BB&T box office official telling Politico they expected sales to have been “definitely higher” at this point.
However, Trump and O’Reilly have both pushed back on Politico’s reporting, with Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington saying in a statement, “The History Tour has already sold over $5 million of tickets, and the excitement and enthusiasm is unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
“Come December, the sold out shows will be a memorable night for all,” she added.
Lippman reported that in a phone interview, O’Reilly said claims that ticket sales were lagging were “false” and “totally ridiculous.”
O’Reilly reportedly argued that ticket sales were at $7 million, higher than the number Harrington gave.
“We haven’t spent a nickel on marketing, nothing,” he said. “All those 7 million for four shows were done on the announcement. Marketing will start in about a week. Nobody has sold tickets this fast at this price, and VIPs are sold out at three of the four venues.”
The television personality specifically pushed back on reports that Orlando ticket sales were low, calling it “bullshit,” although he did not know exactly how many tickets had been sold at that arena.
O’Reilly then reportedly threatened Lippman, saying, “You put one word in there that’s not true, I’ll sue your ass off, and you can quote me on that.”
“You’re just a hatchet man, and that’s what you are,” he added, according to Lippman.
Despite claiming that there has been little or no marketing so far, Trump and O’Reilly men have aggressively promoted the event, plugging the event as a “great” Father’s Day gift last month and O’Reilly has urged his podcast subscribers to become paying members in order to get early access to the events.
