Montel Williams Walks Off 'The O'Reilly Factor' — Here's Why the TV Personality Says He Did It

While all — or most — eyes were on night No. 3 of the Republican National Convention Wednesday, there was a fight brewing under there radar over at Fox News' corner of the Quicken Loans Arena between Montel Williams and network host Bill O'Reilly.

The feud between the two men first came to light when, during his live broadcast from Cleveland Wednesday night, O'Reilly said Williams walked off his show over "some gay thing," calling the TV personality "cowardly" and "unprofessional."

"He will never be never be on this program again. He's not a man of his word, he's unprofessional," the clearly angry Fox News anchor charged. "That is about as low as it gets."

Shortly thereafter, Williams offered some clarity to the situation, sharing his side of the story with CNN reporter Dylan Byers. By Williams' account, he was told by O'Reilly's team that his interview would focus on a speech he gave earlier in the day about LGBT rights as well as a recent poll suggesting President Barack Obama is a racist.

However, Williams said when he arrived at the Fox News booth, he was told the segment about his speech had been scratched and the discussion was only going to be about the poll, which he planned to argue against.

"Suddenly [Fox News host] Eric Bolling is involved and it's all about Obama being a racist," Williams said. "I walked before air, they chased me half way around the building. My detail had to stop them."

"I'm solely focused on my [LGBT] speech," he said. "When that was eliminated, why stay?" he added.

In a Periscope video posted to his Twitter account late Wednesday, Williams offered much the same story he shared with Byers, but took his remarks a step further by turning the tables against O'Reilly, effectively claiming it is the Fox News host who is the real "coward."

Williams went on to say O'Reilly has "embellished and lied" about his journalistic credentials" and problems surrounding his ex-wife.

"You want to talk about coward, homeboy, when you point a finger this way, look at that, you've got three coming back. We know who the coward is," he said. "And if I'm a coward just because I won't talk to you, let's also remember this — I spent 22 years in the military, my friend."

Williams said O'Reilly "shirked" his responsibility by not serving in the military. "You wanna talk about coward, that's what a coward truly is."

He concluded his fiery response to O'Reilly by saying he doesn't care if he's ever on anchor's show again.

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