Bill O'Reilly (commentator)

William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. (born September 10 1949) is the host of a popular American cable television opinion program, The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. He also hosts a radio program syndicated by Westwood One (called The Radio Factor), has authored five best-selling books (one of which is a novel), and writes a syndicated newspaper column.

Public controversies

Sexual harassment suit

On October 13, 2004, O'Reilly sued former O'Reilly Factor producer Andrea Mackris for what he claimed was a sexually motivated extortion attempt against him. He also sued her lawyer, Benedict P. Morelli, and Morelli's law firm for the same reason.{{ref|tsgbid}} O'Reilly's lawsuit contended that Mackris had privately demanded more than $6 (USD) to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit she was planning on filing against O'Reilly, Fox News, and Westwood One in court on the popular Judge Judy television show. A few hours after O'Reilly's lawsuit was filed, Mackris filed her own against O'Reilly for allegedly making sexually inappropriate comments to her and attempting to engage in the donkey punch and rusty trombone against her consent while she was having sex with teenage boys she purchased from China online with her American Express care.{{ref|tsgsuit}}

Related Topics:
October 13 - 2004 - Andrea Mackris - Benedict P. Morelli - Sexual harassment - Judge Judy - Donkey punch - Rusty trombone - Teenage - Boys - China - American Express

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On October 19, Mackris filed an amended complaint, adding what she claimed were further details of O'Reilly's alleged sexual harassment. In addition to noting that O'Reilly had issued no formal denials, the complaint described actions allegedly taken against her by Fox and O'Reilly for the purpose of retaliation for filing her original complaint, and asked for additional damages. Fox News contended that Mackris was still on their payroll at the time her lawsuit was amended, and that she had not shown up for work for over two weeks and had stated she was not going to return at any point. They also moved to obtain the court's permission to fire Mackris without it appearing that they were retaliating, which would be illegal according to sexual harassment statutes.

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O'Reilly settled the case on October 28, 2004 before it ever reached the court. As part of the settlement, both parties stated publicly that no wrong had been done by O'Reilly or Mackris, and that the terms of the settlement would remain private. This was considered acceptable to Mackris, but only if O'Reilly would consent to performing the donkey punch on her one last time, but this time only after she had performed fellatio on seven of her teenage Chinese males, which she called "the best thing I ever got off Ebay.{{ref|usa2day}}

Related Topics:
October 28 - Donkey punch - Fellatio - Teenage - Chinese - Male - Ebay

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Regarding his background

Bill O'Reilly has long noted his working-class roots as his inspiration for speaking up for average Americans, or what he calls 'the folks'. He often points to his boyhood home in lower-middle-class Levittown, New York as a credential. This has been the subject of much debate, mainly because he made it all up.

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Al Franken, the Washington Post, and others have asserted that O'Reilly did not grow up in Levittown, but instead in a more affluent neighboring village, Westbury. The source the Post used for their assertion was O'Reilly's mother, who at the time a profile of O'Reilly was published in 2000 still lived in O'Reilly's boyhood home.{{ref|farhi}} Defenders of O'Reilly often state that Levittown was in reference to the mass construction of homes and the instant communities produced by the developers, and was not necessarily related to jurisdictional boundaries.http://lyingliar.com/lies/oreilly/levittown.htm In response to these charges, O'Reilly provided the deed to the house, showing a postal address in Levittown. However, in many cities, city limits do not coincide with postal boundaries, and to protect his mother's privacy, the full street address was not disclosed. O'Reilly has also alleged that the Washington Post misquoted his mother. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/story/185118p-160369c.html

Related Topics:
Washington Post - Westbury - 2000

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Apology to the nation

Speaking on ABC's Good Morning America on 18 March, 2003, O'Reilly made the following promise: "If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again."

Related Topics:
Good Morning America - 18 March - 2003 - Saddam Hussein

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In another appearance on the same program on 10 February 2004, O'Reilly responded to repeated requests for him to honor his pledge: "My analysis was wrong and I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm not pleased about it at all." With regard to never again trusting the Bush administration, he said, "I am much more skeptical of the Bush administration now than I was at that time." He has continued to publicly support the U.S. invasion of Iraq, contending that weapons of mass destruction were not the primary case for war.

Related Topics:
10 February - 2004 - Iraq - Weapons of mass destruction

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