Story highlights Fox cast the move as a necessary step in cleaning up its corporate culture and reputation

What O'Reilly craved more than anything was the spotlight

(CNN) Cable television is defined by change. Formats change, time slots change and, most of all, people change. Hosts move on, go to other networks, try other things.

Bill O'Reilly was not most hosts. From October 1996 until April 2017 -- an unprecedented two-decade run -- O'Reilly became the face and voice of Fox News Channel. His populist rhetoric, unapologetic approach and unlimited ego made him the most popular cable news personality in the country.

This week, it all ended. O'Reilly was fired by Rupert Murdoch and his two sons after a story earlier this month in The New York Times detailed the fact that Fox and O'Reilly had paid out more than $13 million in settlements to five women alleging that O'Reilly had sexually harassed them in the workplace.

O'Reilly continued to deny the allegations until the bitter end, which came amid a vacation in Italy that saw him meet Pope Francis on the same day the ax fell on his Fox News career. His statement on his dismissal is vintage O'Reilly:

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