October 13, 2004
The Sit And Spin Zone
Bill O' Reilly may have over-bloviated...
Talk show host Bill O'Reilly has been sued by an employee for sexual harassment just a day after O'Reilly launched a pre-emptive strike alleging a shakedown attempt.
The employee, a producer named Andrea Mackris, attributes some fairly racy statements and actions to O'Reilly, the most popular talking head on cable news. Many allegations of phone conversations and phone messages may be open to corroborative proof, such as phone records, recordings, or first-hand witness accounts.
O'Reilly's best defense may be the credibility of the accuser - who in her allegations reported untoward statements by O'Reilly before leaving Fox for CNN - but later, she returned to Fox to work with Bill. This makes the "hostile work environment" argument much tougher to prove.
There is something however that unforunately rings true about the allegations - while nobody can ascertain at this point whether these incidents occurred or not, you cannot listen to O'Reilly interact with women, both on television and radio, and not occassionally have your skin crawl with what comes across as sexualized patronizing - be it remarks about how females guests look, or how he treats female guests like Lis Wiehl on his program. We have noticed this on occassion, and filed it for future reference. Now we have something to refer to.
When Bill says he's Looking Out For You... you might need a restraining order.
Posted by MEC2 at October 13, 2004 05:37 PM