TV host fired for criticizing O'Reilly

BOSTON, May 22 (UPI) -- Comcast Network reportedly has fired Boston television host Barry Nolan after he protested an organization's choice to honor Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly.

WCVB-TV Boston reported that Nolan, who had a nightly program on the network's CN8 channel, was dismissed Wednesday after he voiced his disapproval of the New England Emmy chapter's decision to honor O'Reilly at its annual awards ceremony.

O'Reilly received the Governor's Award during a May 10 at which Nolan quietly distributed fliers criticizing the conservative TV personality before security asked him to stop.

Nolan had also e-mailed members of the chapter chiding them for "an appalling choice for an honor" and encouraging them to protest the decision.

"He's delusional," Nolan said of O'Reilly. "He's a man that mangles the facts. He inflates and constantly mangles the truth, and his frequent target is the 'left-leaning' media -- the ones who do report the news fairly."

Comcast confirmed Nolan's dismissal in a statement to WCVB-TV.

"I knew going in that there was serious risk that I'd lose my job," Nolan told the Boston Herald. "But nobody likes it when people tell them to stifle, not even Edith Bunker."