Did Bill O’Reilly personally witness “Irish terrorists kill and maim their fellow citizens in Belfast with bombs”? The answer, as you may have guessed, is definitely not. But in this particular case, his long-time employer Fox News is openly admitting to their top anchor’s fabrication.

Last week, the network dismissed a widening array of allegations against O’Reilly as “nothing more than an orchestrated campaign by far left advocates” and argued that “responding to the unproven accusation du jour has become an exercise in futility.”

But Fox News did respond to questions posed by Paul Farhi of the Washington Post, about a 2013 book in which O’Reilly wrote, “I’ve seen soldiers gun down unarmed civilians in Latin America, Irish terrorists kill and maim their fellow citizens in Belfast with bombs.” In a statement to the Post, the network admits that O’Reilly did not actually see anything of the sort:

Asked about O'Reilly’s statements Friday, a Fox News spokesman said that O’Reilly was not an eyewitness to any bombings or injuries in Northern Ireland. Instead, he was shown photos of bombings by Protestant police officers.

Want to read more about O’Reilly’s dangerous adventures? The book in which he originally claimed to have witnessed the Belfast bombings, Keep It Pithy: Useful Observations in a Tough World: An Essential Collection of Writings By One of the Most Powerful Voices in Media Today, can be purchased on BillOReilly.com for $21.99.

Image credit: Fox News