I've been told to keep my big mouth shut (O'Reilly)

New York Daily News ^ | 10/15/04 | RALPH R. ORTEGA, ADAM NICHOLS

[kattracks]

TV host Bill O'Reilly suffered "the worst day of my life" yesterday after being thrust into a sleazy sex scandal - one so explosive, it has forced the talk-show loudmouth into silence.

"I have been advised to keep my big mouth shut, and I have promised to do that," O'Reilly told the Daily News from his Fox News studio yesterday.

But he didn't.

"This has been the worst day of my life," O'Reilly said. "I am getting hounded by the press, and I knew I would be. I knew that they were going to kill me, but what am I going to do?"

O'Reilly, 55, was accused Wednesday of making "disgusting" phone calls and remarks to Andrea Mackris, 33, an associate producer on the hugely popular Fox show "The O'Reilly Factor."

Hours before Mackris sued him, O'Reilly, a married father of two who lives on Long Island, struck the first blow - filing his own lawsuit claiming that Mackris and her lawyer, Benedict Morelli, tried to extort $60 million from him and Fox News to buy her silence.

And he used the airwaves to tell his 3 million viewers, "These people picked the wrong guy."

But neither Morelli nor Mackris was backing down yesterday.

"This is a man who went on TV and said, 'They don't know what kind of guy they're messing with.' When somebody says something like that, I take it as a threat against me, my family, my client and her family," Morelli said.

He then raised the stakes, suggesting the scandal could destroy O'Reilly's career.

"They have made it personal. When this case is dismissed, not only are they going to be embarrassed, but they are going to see who is left standing. I think this can bring O'Reilly down."

Mackris claimed O'Reilly, a best-selling author and writer, started making sexual comments to her after she split with her fiancé in 2001. The situation worsened after she returned to Fox following a brief stint working for CNN earlier this year, she said.

Closely guarded by her lawyer, Mackris appeared on NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America" yesterday.

"I felt extremely threatened for many reasons," she said.

"There were definitely threats. It crossed the line when I ... came back [to Fox] in July. It went much further than it ever had.

"The language was ratcheted up. He pushed the boundaries further and further from what I had already established. I came back because he agreed to not ever talk to me that way again."

Her lawyer said, "She really didn't feel she had to do something until she returned from CNN. It started in 2002, but when she returned from CNN it started crossing the line, and it wasn't until then she said, 'My God, I have got to do something about it.'"

O'Reilly's alleged remarks included telling Mackris she should use a vibrator and regaling her with tales of threesomes with Swedish stewardesses and stories of his "amazing" endowment.

Mackris claims he made three lewd phone calls to her since August in which he described fantasies involving her and sex acts he would perform on her.

She said he was clearly pleasuring himself as he spoke.

When Mackris pointed out to O'Reilly that he was her boss, she claims he replied, "You just have to suspend that."

O'Reilly characterized Mackris' allegations as "outrageous and I've got to take action. I don't know what [Mackris] is talking about."

Asked what his wife thinks of the accusations, O'Reilly said, "We don't talk about any of this. It's nothing to do with me - it's with the lawyers."

O'Reilly's lawyer, Ronald Green, said Wednesday he intended to file papers demanding that evidence - including possible tape recordings of the alleged sex calls - be made public. He was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Morelli refused to confirm whether he had tape recordings, saying only, "We have concrete and unrefutable evidence that [O'Reilly] did it."

The scandal apparently has had no effect on O'Reilly's syndicated newspaper column, featured in 300 publications, including the Daily News. None had canceled by last night, said the syndicate's president, Rick Newcombe.

And O'Reilly said his program was being broadcast every weeknight as usual.

He also kept the support of many of his neighbors in Plandome, L.I.

Bill Georgas, 42, co-owner of Louie's Manhasset Restaurant, where O'Reilly is a regular, said, "He's always been a gentleman.

"I don't see that man they're talking about in the news."

With Laura Williams

Originally published on October 15, 2004

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

I think this can bring O'Reilly down

That's the goal.

Anyone who can't see CNN behind this is blind.

[TexasCajun]

"I have been advised to keep my big mouth shut,..."

Doh!

A little too last now, don't ya thing big guy!

BIG O, Didn't your mom tell you that you'd go blind if you didn't stop playing with that thing!

[Xenalyte]

O'Reilly has very distinctive speech patterns, and it would be very easy to write dialogue that sounds plausibly like him. In the hands of a good mimic, that could do amazing damage.

[Xenalyte]

I'm have no idea why she didn't stand up for herself.

I will allow one mistake in judgement without going ballistic - all I require at that stage is an abject apology and a sincere promise never to do it again.

Any man who had the gall to try this more than once on me would have gone home either jobless, or weighing slightly less than he did when he got up that morning.

[Palladin]

Hah! O'r is keeping his mouth shut? Like last night when he ogled and leered at Ann Coulter, making remarks about her "short little skirt" and asking her if men are afraid of her? And saying too bad he never had a teacher that looked like her? Ad nauseam?

The guy is out of control. He needs a shrink. If he already has one, he needs to get a new one.

[Palladin]

One of them is one of the top labor lawyers in the Country from one of the most respected law firms in the Country. The other tries to beat the ambulance to the accident scene What an oversimplification! O'R's guy went to Brooklyn Law School, not a very prestigious institution. He started out as a military lawyer. He writes lots of articles. How often does he actually go into a courtroom? O'Reilly is so cheap! He could have hired a better lawyer. Morelii and O'r's guy get the same rating from Martindale-Hubble. AV--a high rating. Morelli is a very experienced trial lawyer. If this case sees the inside of a courtroom, my money is on Morelli.

[arasina]

I am in agreement with you one hundred percent.

I for one, hope Mackris falls flat on her sour face. It would be an improvement.

Well said!

[Labyrinthos]

I speak from experience, having litigated several cases over the years both against and on the same side as Becker, Epstein, and Green. I don't know whether Green will personally try the lawsuit, but who cares. When you hire Green, you hire the entire team of litigators.

BTW, some of the very best of the best trial lawyers I've litigated against over the last 20 years did not go to an Ivy League school, but rather, went to small regional schools like Brooklyn, Hofstra, Albany, Pace, Rutgers, etc. Getting into an Ivy League law school often has more to do with "who's your daddy" or the color of your skin than your potential as a trial lawyer.

[SunnySide]

Ick, Andrea and her consistently pursed lips, she's a gold digger. I'm not defending O'Reilly either. I'm just sick of nasty smarmy gold diggers who fake it for a quick cash settlement. This keeps real serious rape and abuse cases invalidated and oppressed.

[Palladin]

'Tis true. Many brilliant lawyers had humble beginnings.

Thanks for the links.

It's interesting that you know many of the players.

I hope we will have your commentary as this proceeds.

[SunnySide]

"just suppose this is not a harassment case but a case of Woman Scorned....say SHE made the play had he rebuked her as only he could do..so she gets even? "

It's what I suspect, Andrea might be a bunny boiler a la Fatal Attraction. She definetly looks the part. One doesn't go running back into a burning barn as she proclaims.

[boop]

Yup! If you go to the smoking gun website and read the entire complaint, you find she left CNN due to sexual harassment. This is so suspicious, uh, if she was SO "offended" why would she go back to FOX, keep going to dinner with BOR, keep calling him, keep accepting his "offensive" phone calls, not hanging up when she as "offended", etc.
Also, she is a lefty. In the complaint she mentions how she "made fun of Bush". This is such a liberal plant. She has zero credibility. I hope BOR crushes her.

[boop]

Actually only ugly chicks COMPLAIN about being "harassed". Look at this woman, Anita Hill, any of Packwood's accusers, etc. And they're all leftwing activists. An attractive woman usually is secure in herself.

[Old Professer]

Hubristic humbug.

[mountainfolk]

I agree. I am no fan of BOR and suspect that the dirty talk probably happened. However, the basis for the complaint sounds like entrapment to me. In addition, I haven't seen anything that suggests that he forced her, touched her against her will, or made her return to FOX employment. This is a political hit at FOX coverage of the election as well as an attempt by attorney and client to strike the financial mother lode. She and her attorney are both democrats, which pretty much sums up the reason for this charge being brought against BOR at this particular time.

[rundy]

Should she have just hung up the phone? Why did she stay on the phone long enough to hear those many aledged stories, etc.?

[nutmeg]

FoxFan ping!

FoxFans: There are so many threads about Bill O'Reilly that have been posted on FR over the past couple of days... I didn't want to ping you in excess. This is one of the few O'Reilly threads I'll ping you to today.

If you're interested in seeing more O'Reilly threads, please do a search on the name O'Reilly in the search box at the top of the FR browse page. Search O'Reilly by using By Title (Date) and By Keyword.

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[StarFan]

I was tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt until reading this incredible statement which I'm not buying:

Asked what his wife thinks of the accusations, O'Reilly said, "We don't talk about any of this. It's nothing to do with me - it's with the lawyers."

Unless his wife is totally bullied by O'Bloviator, there's no way they're not discussing this ad infinitum.

[StarFan]

I was tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt until reading this incredible statement which I'm not buying:

Asked what his wife thinks of the accusations, O'Reilly said, "We don't talk about any of this. It's nothing to do with me - it's with the lawyers."

Unless his wife is totally bullied by O'Bloviator, there's no way they're not discussing this ad infinitum.

[StarFan]

oops I hiccuped.