Judge presiding of defamation case against Bill O'Reilly refuses to keep his secret settlements secret.

Courtesy of CNN Money:  

A federal judge in New York has denied Bill O'Reilly's motion to seal settlement agreements he struck with multiple women who accused him of harassment, dealing a huge blow to the former Fox News host in a defamation suit brought last year. 

Deborah Batts, the judge presiding over the defamation suit, ruled Tuesday that O'Reilly "has failed to present compelling countervailing factors that could overcome the presumption of public access" to the agreements. 

Batts also said O'Reilly "has not even come close to rebutting this First Amendment presumption" that favors public access to documents. 

"Defendant O'Reilly asks the Court to resolve a dispute by relying on the very Agreements he seeks to shield from public view," Batts wrote. 

The judge's ruling means that certain terms of the settlements are coming to light for the first time. On Wednesday, Neil Mullin and Nancy Erika Smith, the attorneys representing the three plaintiffs, introduced to the court settlement agreements between O'Reilly and women who had sued and settled with him. The agreement struck with Andrea Mackris, a former Fox News producer who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against O'Reilly in 2004, required all parties in the case to disclaim any of the evidence "as counterfeit or forgeries" should it be made public. 

As Smith and Mullin put it in a separate filing on Wednesday, the provision required Mackris to "lie -- even in legal proceedings or under oath -- if any evidence becomes public, by calling evidence 'counterfeit' or 'forgeries.'"

A former Fox New host had a legal settlement written up that forces a former co-worker to lie about factual information if it becomes public?

Let's chalk that up to the least surprising news of the day.  

Man I used to love to hate on Bill O'Reilly back when he actually mattered. (Might have something to do with the fact that he attacked me on national television.)

But now that he is a fucking nobody, I just enjoy watching him sink slowly into oblivion.

Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O'Reilly have now filed new defamation lawsuits after being called liars.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O’Reilly joined a defamation lawsuit against Mr. O’Reilly and Fox News on Wednesday, asserting that statements that he and the network made depicted them as liars, political operatives and extortionists. 

The women are Andrea Mackris, a former producer on Mr. O’Reilly’s show on Fox News who sued him for sexual harassment in 2004, and Rebecca Gomez Diamond, a former host on Fox Business Network who reached a settlement with Mr. O’Reilly in 2011 after coming forward with sexual harassment allegations against him. Both women had recorded conversations with Mr. O’Reilly, and he paid both settlements, according to people briefed on the matter. 

They joined a lawsuit filed earlier this month by Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, a former Fox News employee who reached a settlement with Fox News and Mr. O’Reilly in July 2002 after she repeatedly complained about his behavior to the network’s human resources department and other executives. Ms. Bernstein is also suing for breach of contract. Her allegations did not include sexual harassment.

Andrea Mackris was the one that O'Reilly tried to seduce by offering to rub a "falafel thing" all over her.

I would imagine that Fox New is probably going to want to buy them off again, but I'm really hoping hey refuse the offer.

Personally I would love to see this whole thing argued in court so we can actually get a chance to hear what a pervert O'Reilly was to these women  on those recording, and of course to watch him get thoroughly humiliated again.

And you may have guessed I really do not like Bill O'Reilly.

One of Bill O'Reilly's many sexual harassment victims defies her confidentiality agreement to accuse O'Reilly and Fox News of breaking the settlement contract.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

A woman who reached a settlement with Bill O’Reilly over harassment allegations sued Mr. O’Reilly and Fox News on Monday for defamation and breach of contract, saying that public statements he and the network made violated the settlement and portrayed her as a liar and politically motivated extortionist. 

The woman, Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, is one of six known to have reached settlements after making accusations against Mr. O’Reilly. (Her allegations did not include sexual harassment.) None of the others have said anything publicly about their claims, which involved sexual harassment. 

Mr. O’Reilly has repeatedly said that the harassment allegations that led to his ouster from Fox News in April have no merit, that he never mistreated anyone and that he resolved the matters privately to protect his children. 

“In fact, Mr. O’Reilly is the liar,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. “He mistreated Ms. Bernstein. She was forced out of her job at Fox News and paid a settlement because of his mistreatment.”

The lawyers for Ms. Bernstein have suggested that these nondisclosure agreements are just a way of keeping the victims quiet while Fox News and Bill O'Reilly disparage their character.   

“Knowing Ms. Bernstein and Mr. O’Reilly’s other victims are afraid to speak out because he and Fox forced them to sign nondisclosure agreements, O’Reilly and Fox have made false and disparaging claims,” Mr. Mullin said in a statement. “They should release all victims from their NDAs and let the truth out. It is cowardly to publicly attack these women knowing they have been subjected to contractual provisions requiring absolute silence.” 

I doubt very seriously that Fox would ever release these women from their agreements to let them start talking, but if they band together as one and defy those agreements.....whoa Nelly!

Parent company of Fox News reaches 90 million dollar settlement with shareholders as result of the sexual harassment scandal that has plagued the network.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc has reached a $90 million settlement of shareholder claims arising from the sexual harassment scandal at its Fox News Channel, which cost the jobs of longtime news chief Roger Ailes and anchor Bill O‘Reilly.The settlement, which requires a judge’s approval, resolves what are known as “derivative” claims against Fox officers and directors, including: Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, who are Fox’s executive chairmen; James Murdoch, another son and its chief executive, and Ailes’ estate. 

The defendants did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement filed with the Delaware Chancery Court. 

Monday’s settlement calls for insurers of Fox officers, Fox directors and Ailes’ estate to pay the $90 million to the New York-based company for the benefit of shareholders. 

Fox will enhance governance and said it created the Fox News Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council to ensure a proper workplace environment, bolster training and further the recruitment and advancement of women and minorities.

Keep in mind that this follows the reporting that Bill O'Reilly also paid out 32 million to settle lawsuits over charges of sexual harassment.

Damn, being a pig in the 21st century is expensive!

It would be awesome if all of this female empowerment resulted in Fox News evolving into an actual news outlet and not a barely journalistic version of the Playboy Club.

However if I were a woman looking to break into journalism I would still skip sending my application to Fox.

To be honest, I would give that same advice to a man.

Bill O'Reilly is so toxic that even conservative propaganda outlet Sinclair Broadcasting does not want anything to do with him.

Bill O'Reilly did contact Sinclair Broadcast but CEO Chris Ripley said: "He did approach us, but we do not have any interest in hiring him."

— Leon Lazaroff (@LeonLazaroff) November 1, 2017

I think that this is what they call scraping the bottom of the barrel.

If O'Reilly cannot even get a gig with Sinclair then I think it's safe to say that his media career is essentially finished.

Serial sexual deviant Bill O'Reilly may end up working for conservative propaganda outlet Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sounds about right.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

Bill O'Reilly, the former Fox News anchor, has been negotiating for a position with the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the nation's largest television-station owner, according to two sources familiar with the talks. 

Sinclair, known for its conservative commentary, is continuing with the talks despite the sexual harassment cases that cost O'Reilly his job at Fox this year, the sources said. Last week, The New York Times reported that O’Reilly had settled a $32 million sexual harassment claim against him by a former legal analyst, Lis Wiehl. The sources said the news does not appear to have sidelined the talks.

"They took a pause but it didn't really change anything for them," one of the sources said.

If this Sinclair Broadcasting Group actually hires O'Reilly that will pretty much tell us all we need to know about them, and where their priorities lie.

Yes O'Reilly is a big name in conservative circles but it would mean that Sinclair was willing to establish a hostile working environment for their female employees just to get a marquee name on their team.

Bill O'Reilly does not blame himself for being a sexual deviant, he blames God for letting him get caught.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Bill O'Reilly has repeatedly blamed reports of sexual misconduct on a politically motivated media. On Monday, he admitted that he also blames a higher power. 

"You know, am I mad at God? Yeah, I'm mad at him," O'Reilly said on the latest episode of his web series, "No Spin News." "I wish I had more protection. I wish this stuff didn't happen. I can't explain it to you. Yeah, I'm mad at him."

Damn, I have heard about people being completely incapable of self awareness, but to actually blame the God who claim to worship instead of taking responsibility for your actions is a whole new level of denial.

I think in many ways Bill O'Reilly is an emotional doppelganger to Donald Trump.

Two arrogant megalomaniacs completely unable to accept responsibility for their mistakes and determined to shift the blame to anybody else.

Even if they are an imaginary sky god.

P.S. I wonder if O'Reilly also blames God for his talent agency dropping him like a hot potato after learning about that 32 million dollar payout?

Right after Bill O'Reilly paid a 32 million dollar sexual harassment settlement Fox News extended his contract for 25 million dollars.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Last January, six months after Fox News ousted its chairman amid a sexual harassment scandal, the network’s top-rated host at the time, Bill O’Reilly, struck a $32 million agreement with a longtime network analyst to settle new sexual harassment allegations, according to two people briefed on the matter — an extraordinarily large amount for such cases. 

Although the deal has not been previously made public, the network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, acknowledges that it was aware of the woman’s complaints about Mr. O’Reilly. They included allegations of repeated harassment, a nonconsensual sexual relationship and the sending of gay pornography and other sexually explicit material to her, according to the people briefed on the matter. 

It was at least the sixth agreement — and by far the largest — made by either Mr. O’Reilly or the company to settle harassment allegations against him. Despite that record, 21st Century Fox began contract negotiations with Mr. O’Reilly, and in February granted him a four-year extension that paid $25 million a year.

All of this occurred after Megyn Kelly left the news outlet and they were attempting to convince the public that they were cleaning up "the workplace culture."

Apparently the Murdoch family huddled together and decided it made better business sense to extend O'Reilly's contract than to risk losing him, despite these numerous allegations and setttlements.

Clearly not a great business decision since they were forced to kick him out only four months later.

Someone on Twitter wanted to know just what could somebody do to another person that would cost 32 million dollars to cover up?

That is a good question, but not one I am sure I really want to know the answer to. 

I have virtually NO doubt that the workplace sexual harassment is continuing at Fox News and that new allegations are forthcoming.

You just don't clean up a pigsty like that in such a short amount of time.

This is a cover that's guaranteed to give the conservatives a conniption fit.

The Republicans and Right Wing media keep banging the drum about Harvey Weinstein while remaining seemingly oblivious to their own hypocrisy.

Just get a load of what Tucker Carlson, who currently occupies the time slot made available after Bill O'Reilly was forced out of Fox News due to his own accusations of sexual harassment, tweeted the other day.

Powerful ppl knew what Weinstein was doing & not only ignored it but actively took his side against his many victims #Tucker @FoxNews

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 13, 2017

I know right?

Sarah Palin expresses sadness concerning the departure of a longtime Fox News reporter. I think her memory may be failing her.

This Facebook post links to a rather mournful piece about the now departing Carl Cameron over at Young Conservatives.

However the fact that Palin seems upset about this departure seems odd considering one of Cameron's most famous on air moments. This was a piece from literally RIGHT AFTER the 2008 election, when Nicole Wallace, Steve Schmidt, and others were revealing behind the scenes info about Palin to the media that was shocking to the national audience but all too familiar for Alaskans.

Later of course all of these stories came out in the book "Game Change" which went on to become a great HBO movie of the same name.

But this interview right here was the very beginning of the de-mytholization (Yes I realize I made that word up.) of Sarah Palin.

After this there were numerous books, and of course blog posts, that literally destroyed the last remnants of Palin's lies and myths about her life, family, and career.

So yeah I guess I kind of mourn the loss of Carl Cameron on Fox News, but I have no idea why Palin would feel the same. 

Disgraced former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to join disgraced former Fox News host Glenn Beck's third rate talk radio show.

Courtesy of The Hill:

Former Fox News titans Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck will be reuniting for a weekly spot on Beck’s radio show. 

"We're going to do that every Friday until Beck gets tired of me," O'Reilly said Monday on his "No Spin News" podcast. "And it's a good outlet for me to, you know, discuss things back and forth with Beck, who's a good friend. We don't agree on everything, but it's very lively." 

Beck and O'Reilly are friends going back to their time together at Fox News, when they were the two biggest names on the network before Beck’s abrupt departure in 2011.

Glenn Beck actually left Fox after his contract renewal negotiations feel through most likely due to the fact that Beck was becoming more and more erratic on the air.

Of course to hear Beck tell it he was let go because Fox News wanted him to stop talking about God.

So now we have a man fired for sexually harassing women joining a guy let go for talking about the voices in his head, on a talk radio program and website that is on the verge of collapse.

I wonder if they will make room for Sean Hannity on Loser Radio 101 AM once he gets fired as well?

Bill O'Reilly claims that he was fired from Fox News due a Left Wing conspiracy, not because he said and did icky things to the women folk.

Courtesy of TV Newser:  

Former Fox News colleagues Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck chatted this morning on Beck’s three-hour morning radio show. This was O’Reilly’s first interview since being forced out from Fox News on April 19 following the report earlier in the month that he and Fox News paid $13 million to five women who accused the star of harassment.

Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly together again, hos could this not be batshit crazy?

Despite some prodding from Beck, O’Reilly said he couldn’t get too specific “due to the legality.” 

“Look, the entire ordeal was a hit job, and in the weeks to come, we will be able to explain some of it. It really has to do with destroying voices that the far-left doesn’t like. That’s the general tone,” O’Reilly said. 

Beck then asked if he would eventually come back to explain more or if it would be explained in other venues. 

“Both. There’s going to be an exposition soon, but I can’t tell you when, about who exactly this crew is that terrorizes sponsors, threatens people behind the scenes, that pays people to say things. We’re going to name them, and it will be a big story. The left-wing media will downplay the story, but it’s coming. Unfortunately, I was target No. 1. It’s sad for me, for my family and it’s grossly dishonest. From now on when I’m attacked, I’ll take legal action,” he responded.

Yes there is all kinds of secret evidence that can't be shared because it's secret, and the Left Wing media will downplay it because they only report on facts and not secret evidence that can't be shared.

Stupid Left Wing media!

But here's a hint, it's all about George Soros: 

“I’ll point you to an article seldom seen this week, it’s about nine corporations that are now being targeted by organized left-wing groups funded by George Soros because they allegedly are profiting from President Trump’s immigration stance. That gives you your road map. Soros is putting up big money right now, and this is going to become an even bigger story in the next six months” said O’Reilly.

“Look, people were very sad when it happened. I felt bad not only for me and my staff, but for the viewers and listeners because they really had no idea what had happened. People know the left-wing media hates me and hates Fox News, but they don’t know the full extent of it…We are accumulating information and hopefully it will all be made clear soon.”

Yep, that damn George Soros and his Left Wing orgy partners totally paid all of those women to act offended when Bill O'Reilly suavely used his immense powers of seduction on them and honored them by masturbating during phone calls with them.

George Soros probably also paid O'Reilly's former wife to make these scurrilous claims.

Courtesy of Jezebel:

In the affidavit, which was signed and notarized on October 10, 2011, and later entered as an exhibit in the couple’s divorce proceedings, O’Reilly’s ex-wife Maureen McPhilmy O’Reilly described a sudden spasm of violence on a night in December 2009. 

According to McPhilmy’s account, she discovered O’Reilly engaging in phone sex in their bedroom at roughly 10:30 p.m. one evening. O’Reilly then “flew into a fit of rage” and slammed her into a nearby wall, leaving a hole one foot across. He then, the affidavit claims, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, neck, and hands to immobilize her, and violently dragged her out of the bedroom and down a hallway on the second floor of their 4,600-square-foot, $2.4 million home in Manhasset, New York. 

O’Reilly went on, the affidavit claims, to drag McPhilmy by the neck down a flight of stairs and through the kitchen, as McPhilmy screamed that he was hurting her. In the kitchen, the affidavit claims, a security guard assigned to protect O’Reilly and his family saw what was going on, at which point O’Reilly stopped the attack. When the guard asked her if she wanted to report the incident to the police, she declined, McPhilmy added. 

The guard was startled by O’Reilly’s appearance, McPhilmy wrote, because he was naked from the waist down while attacking her. 

Oh yeah, if it wasn't for those darn Left Wing kids and their Mystery Machine, O'Reilly would still be dragging his wife down the stairs by her neck and engaging in one sided phone sex with unsuspecting women.

Curse that George Soros. Curse him all to hell!

Former Fox News host claims that not only was she sexually harassed, but that her phone was hacked and the information used against her online.

Courtesy of NPR: 

The host, Andrea Tantaros, alleged in a previous lawsuit that she had been sexually harassed by former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and former top-rated Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. That suit has been stayed while her complaints against the network are being heard in binding private arbitration. All defendants, through their own representatives or through Fox's parent company, 21st Century Fox, vehemently denied Tantaros' initial allegations.

In Monday's federal lawsuit, Tantaros alleges that Fox News executives including co-President Bill Shine orchestrated the use of material gathered by electronic eavesdropping that was fed to Twitter accounts acting on the network's behalf. Ensuing tweets, she says, reflected knowledge of details of intimate conversations and exchanges with family members and friends. Tantaros alleges this was done to try to undermine her resolve in challenging the network on sexual harassment.

As you may know News Corp the parent company of Fox has a long and scandalous history of tapping people's phones.

According to the lawsuit Fox was fairly nasty in how they used the stolen information:

The suit alleges a rise in offensive material on social media accounts directed toward Tantaros in early 2015, when, she says, she first notified Shine and other Fox News executives that Ailes had harassed her. 

Then in May 2016, according to the complaint, several Twitter accounts started to post material suggesting direct knowledge of her conversations.

For example, a picture of a movie about a black scorpion was posted just after she learned that a friend had been bitten by one. Another tweet invoked the idea of a memorial for Tantaros' dead brother, just after she and her mother had spoken of it; the third anniversary of his death was still a few months away. 

And at the same time that Tantaros was talking to the children of her other brother while they were at Disneyland, according to the lawsuit, a tweet on one of the accounts posted a photograph of Mickey Mouse hugging two children. 

"This is not just cyberstalking," Tantaros' lawyer, Judd Burstein, told NPR. "This is cyberstalking on steroids, because, as alleged in the complaint, they harassed her through sock-puppet social media accounts which conveyed the illegal fruits of their electronic surveillance of her. It was in essence two crimes committed at the same time."

Certainly sounds like something Fox News would do, doesn't it. 

(Similar tactics were used against me back when I reported on the Palin marriage troubles. I was not hacked I don't think, but IM was scoured for dirt and then the information was misrepresented on various right wing news outlets in a way to impugn my character. So I have seen these tactics at work.)

If the lawyer for Tantaros can make these allegations stick, I see a big payout in their future.

Sean Hannity becomes the latest Fox News personality accused of sexual harassment. Update!

Debbie Sclussel and Sean Hannity.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:

During a Friday interview with Tulsa, Oklahoma-based radio host Pat Campbell, former Fox News guest Debbie Schlussel accused Hannity of inviting her to his hotel room before and after a debate with a pro-Palestinian guest in Detroit. 

Schlussel said she rejected Hannity’s alleged advances and that she was never invited on his show again. Schlussel and Hannity were scheduled to speak together at the Detroit show, Schlussel said. But before the show, Hannity allegedly invited her to an event at a nearby bookstore. The Daily Beast was not able to confirm whether the pair ever spoke at such a show. 

“He had some event at a bookstore where he signed his book for people standing in line. He asked me to come meet him at this book signing,” Schlussel said on Campbell’s show. “So I met him there and it was very awkward. He had me up there with him while he signed books and I felt very weird. These people don’t know me and they didn’t come for me to sign their books. Then I left to get ready for the show, and he said, ‘Why don’t you come back with me to my hotel?’ and I said no, I have to get ready for the show.”

Schlussel claims that Hannity hit on her again even though her family was present and when she rejected him a second time that ended her appearances on his show.

Of course Hannity is denying any of this occurred, but then so did Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly.

To be honest I have no idea if these charges are factual or not, but I do know that in an environment like the one at Fox News it would be almost expected that the male "talent" would compete to see who could be the biggest asshole.

I remember watching Lawrence O'Donnell on the day that we learned of the accusations against O'Reilly. By way of pointing out that not all celebrities get accused of sexual harassment, which was part of the O'Reilly defense, O'Donnel mentioned that there were no accusations directed at Hannity.

At the time I remember thinking "Wait for it."

And sure enough it is here.

And there are likely to be others, and not just directed at Sean Hannity.

As the Daily Beast is pointing out today, we seem to have all forgotten that all of this started with Steve Doocy: 

On July 6, 2016, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson sued Roger Ailes, alleging she was sexually harassed. The suit prompted an investigation of Ailes, his eventual firing, and a $20 million settlement for Carlson. 

The investigation of Ailes, and the public standard it set for Fox News, set the predicate for the ouster of Bill O’Reilly last week, following numerous allegations of sexual harassment. 

But Carlson’s problems with Ailes began when she complained to him about the conduct of Steve Doocy, her co-host on Fox & Friends. 

According to Carlson’s complaint, Doocy “engaged in a pattern and practice of severe and pervasive sexual harassment of Carlson.”

Like I said "compete to see who could be the biggest asshole." And let's face it there are plenty of assholes involved in that competition.

The only question to ask is who is the next asshole to follow Ailes and O'Reilly out the door?

Update: Now Schussel is claiming that while her story is accurate, that she does not believe it rises to the legal definition of sexual harassment: 

“I would never accuse him of that. Sexual harassment has a special meaning under the law, and I would never accuse him of that,” Schlussel, an attorney herself, said. Schlussel said the interaction happened in the early 2000’s when Hannity was in Detroit taping a show.

This is of course after Hannity's lawyers threatened legal action. 

Make of that what you will.

Stick a fork in him, Bill O'Reilly is done.

I can see through your dress.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Bill O’Reilly has been forced out of his position as a prime-time host on Fox News, the company said on Wednesday, after the disclosure of multiple settlements involving sexual harassment allegations against him. His ouster brings an abrupt and embarrassing end to his two-decade reign as one of the most popular and influential commentators in television. 

“After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel,” 21st Century Fox, Fox News’s parent company, said in a statement. 

Part of the reason for this decision appears to stem from the fact that yet another woman came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment:  

Bill O'Reilly used to leer at an African-American Fox News clerical worker and called her "hot chocolate," according to attorney Lisa Bloom, who helped the woman report the harassment to the network's hotline. 

The woman worked for a different broadcaster in 2008 while this was going on, but The O'Reilly Factor host's office was near her desk, the attorney claims. 

 "He would never talk to her, not even hello, except to grunt at her like a wild boar," Bloom tells The Hollywood Reporter. "He would leer at her. He would always do this when no one else was around and she was scared."

That was enough to get Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report to tweet this:

O'Reilly has had tremendous run. Very few in the business get to decide when and how things end. Media is most brutal of all industries...

— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) April 18, 2017

And that my friends is all she wrote.

Even the Pope apparently could not save Billo's career.

Source

It's like the end of an era isn't it?

An era full of pompous bloviating, and the kind of flagrant assholery that we can now get directly from the White House.

I can hardly wait for Stephen Colbert's response to the news that Papa Bear has now gone into permanent hibernation.

So is Bill O'Reilly simply on vacation while his advertisers run like rats from a sinking ship, or is he on his way out at Fox News?

James Murdoch wants O'Reilly taken off the air for good, 2 sources sayhttps://t.co/QSWNAd9ZkY

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) April 12, 2017

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

Lawyers for the law firm Paul, Weiss, hired last summer by 21st Century Fox to investigate Roger Ailes, are currently doing a “deep dive” investigation into O’Reilly’s behavior. They’re focused now on sexual harassment claims by O’Reilly guest Wendy Walsh after she reported her claims via the company’s anonymous hotline. 

Fox News co-president Bill Shine has been working hard to keep O’Reilly, sources said. But O’Reilly’s future is in the hands of the Murdochs. “It’s up to the family,” the senior Fox News staffer said. The Murdochs are presently divided over how to handle it. Two highly placed Fox News sources say 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch would like O’Reilly to be permanently taken off the air, while his father, Rupert, and older brother, Lachlan, are more inclined to keep him. (A spokesperson for the Murdochs declined to comment.) 

That dynamic — James pushing for swift action, while Rupert resists — played out last summer in the Ailes scandal. James, of course, got his way with Ailes. With more than three dozen advertisers boycotting O’Reilly, Fox staffers speculate the same may happen to O’Reilly, perhaps as early as during his vacation. “The assumption is that he’ll exit in a non-embarrassing way,” one senior Fox News staffer told me.

Wow! Wouldn't that be something, first Roger Ailes and now Bill O'Reilly? 

Could this be the end of Fox News as we know it?

Damn, I certainly hope so.

Attorney for O'Reilly accuser writes letter saying that Fox News is a "cesspool of sexual harassment, intimidation and retaliation."

Courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter:  

Attorney Lisa Bloom is calling on the New York State Division of Human Rights to intervene at Fox News, labeling the network a "cesspool of sexual harassment, intimidation and retaliation.

"Bloom's letter not only says ousted CEO Roger Ailes normalized the practice of senior male executives preying on female subordinates, but also includes bombshell allegations against the exec and calls him a predator. 

“In at least one case, Mr. Ailes threatened an employee into having sex with him, making a video of the event and then blackmailing her into years of sexual relations with the threat that otherwise he would release the video,” writes Bloom. 

The attorney likened Ailes' operation of the network to that of the mafia, "riddled with corruption and surveillance, smear campaigns and hush money."

Oh damn!

If Bloom can prove even a fraction of these accusations she could very well irreparably damage the reputation of Fox News and take it down as the number one cable news network.

In fact things are so bad that Bill O'Reilly is fleeing the scene of the crimes.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:

Embattled Fox News host Bill O’Reilly announced tonight that he is taking a vacation. O’Reilly’s decision to go off the air in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal and advertiser boycott arguably has the appearance of a suspension, but O’Reilly worked to dispel that notion. He announced that he’d scheduled his trip “last fall” — well before the New York Times reported he paid $13 million to settle harassment claims.

Sure, sounds totally reasonable.

I mean it's not like Fox News lies to the public or anything. 

SNL Cold Open features Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump meeting, and confusing, his supporters.

I swear Alec Baldwin is the best!

However I have to admit that as much as I love humor, it is becoming harder and harder to find anything to laugh at with this president.

Laughing at the ignorance of his supporters however....well that never gets old.

Actually Baldwin pulled double duty last night, not only appearing in the cold open as Donald Trump but also appearing in another skit as Trump being interviewed by Bill O'Reilly ALSO played by Alex Baldwin.

Like  I said, the best!

Fox uses Donald Trump's pussy grabbing video to teach employees about sexual harassment.

Rememeber that? Guess what that is being used for at Fox.

Courtesy of Hollywood Reporter:  

One employee of 21st Century Fox details a company presentation and expresses shock at seeing the president's infamous Billy Bush conversation: "There was an audible gasp in the room, like, 'Can you believe this is happening?'”

For the past few months, 21st Century Fox has been using the infamous Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape during company seminars to give Fox staffers an example of bad behavior in the workplace — a fact that became especially awkward this week as President Trump defended one of Fox's biggest stars, Bill O'Reilly, who is facing his own harassment scandal. 

The seminars — a series of routine workshops at multiple divisions at Fox, the most recent one taking place Tuesday on the studio lot in Los Angeles — are led by a human resources executive with a focus on preventing harassment, discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. One attendee, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells The Hollywood Reporter that toward the end of the 1-hour seminar Tuesday, a photo appeared on the big-screen (seminars are presented inside a movie theater on the lot) featuring Trump, Billy Bush and actress Arianne Zucker from the 2005 Access Hollywood tape. Just before meeting Zucker, Trump bragged to Bush about grabbing women "by the pussy" and, in reference to Zucker, said, “I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them.”

The employees were then informed that this was a form of sexual harassment (Which they should have been able to figure out for themselves but then again they ARE employees of Fox.), and instructed to report anything like that to their supervisors or human resources.

Gee I wonder if Bill O'Reilly has taken this class?

Probably not. Though after he gets fired for being a giant perv, perhaps they will use his case to teach the NEXT sexual harassment classes.

"Next turn to chapter three and at the top of the page you will the heading 'Falafel.'"

It appears that Rachel Maddow is currently the queen of cable news.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:

MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” finished the Week of March 27 as the most-watched show in cable news among the key demographic of adults age 25-54. 

“The Rachel Maddow Show” averaged 2.70 million total viewers and 624,000 viewers among the demo last week, while O’Reilly averaged 2.69 million total viewers and 537,000 in the demo. Maddow has now beaten Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” for three straight weeks, as the MSNBC host continues to gain popularity. 

Maddow has been on fire and has now topped O’Reilly every week since she revealed President Trump’s 2005 tax return on March 14. Typically, O’Reilly has the No. 1 show among all of cable news on a regular basis.

And people thought that Trump tax return show was a flop. Hah!

And lets face it if O'Reilly continues to lose advertisers at the current pace he might no longer be on cable news for Rachel to compete against.

Gee, wouldn't that be just a non-terrible thing to happen?

P.S. This is for all of those Maddow haters out there. Sucks to be you.