Colbert Reclaims O’Reilly Portrait

The portrait of Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly is gracing the halls of the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) no more.

The Colbert Report has temporarily reclaimed the picture—presented to the school by the show’s host Stephen Colbert early last month—“in anticipation of an expected appearance by Bill O’Reilly on the Colbert Report in the near future,” according to Institute of Politics (IOP) Director of Communications Esten Perez.

In the segment “Stephen goes to Harvard,” aired on Comedy Central on Dec. 20, Stephen Colbert presented the portrait as a gift to IOP Director Jeanne Shaheen.

“There’s one bright spot in the Kennedy School of Government and that’s that Bill O’Reilly got a Masters degree here,” he said in the clip, later taking down one of the portraits of John F. Kennedy to replace it with O’Reilly’s.

O’Reilly received a Master in Public Administration at the KSG in 1996.

During an appearance in front of a sold-out Harvard audience, a crew member handed Colbert the portrait of O’Reilly.

“Certainly one of the pictures of JFK could come down,” Colbert told the crowd.

After receiving the portrait, the Institute of Politics housed it in Shaheen’s office until the show’s crew came back for it two weeks later.

“We had the portrait here in the IOP Director’s office for a little over two weeks before the show reclaimed it, and, should the portrait return here at some point, we will find an appropriate spot for it then,” Perez said.

Neither Fox News nor Comedy Central confirmed that O’Reilly will be appearing on Colbert’s show.

Colbert Report Field producer Nicole Savini said that “the traveling portrait will ultimately end up at the Kennedy School.”

Fox News Vice President for Media Relations Irena Briganti declined to comment on the record for this story.

—Staff writer Daniela Nemerenco can be reached at dnemeren@fas.harvard.edu.