"Fired" for whistle blowing, yet was offered a severance package contingent on me not bad mouthing the company. How do I address this in a job interview?

I was terminated from my last job for reporting my boss for sexual harassment. I was offered a severance package (in writing) that said I was entitled to three months' pay at my new rate plus any unused PTO, and my stock options, so long as I did not bad mouth the company via social media or any news outlets. I suspect they did this due to the fact they were getting ready to IPO.

I had never been written up / disciplined / PIPed prior to getting fired. Up until that point I had received positive remarks and scores on my annual performance reviews and was compensated accordingly.

I have not been able to find a job since, despite being called in for interviews and performing well. One of my friends got me an interview on her team and said the hiring manager had nothing but good things to say about me and was almost positive I would get the job. The next day I was informed that they decided to go with the other candidate. My friend was truly shocked, and believed something may have occurred that changed her manager's mind during the vetting process.

I know the termination is affecting my candidacy, but my termination was not performance or personality based. How do I mention this in my interview?

Just to mention a few examples of what my boss used to do and say:

• Call me into his office to "see what I was wearing"

• Drop his pen/pencil on the floor and say "Bend over and pick that up... just kidding, I wanted to see if you would actually do it. Too bad."

• Schedule meetings on Friday afternoons at 5:30, long after everyone had gone home. It was just he and I on our team.

• Contacted our Facilities department and made them move my cubicle right next to him because "we had very important projects we needed to be in close collaboration on"

• Deny my requests for PTO. He would call me into his office and ask me personally where I was going. Said "I don't want you to be gone, I'll miss you."

• Show me his dating profile with pictures that were not appropriate for work

• Came to my apartment late one night and texted me saying if I didn't come downstairs to see him, he would go upstairs and knock on my door and wouldn't leave until I answered. When I asked him how he knew where I lived, he said "It's on your resume, duh."

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