Highly publicized disputes

Some conflicts have been particularly long-standing and/or widely publicized:

• Al Franken - The comedian and liberal political commentator wrote a book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look At the Right, which featured an unflattering photograph of O'Reilly on the cover and a chapter devoted to him inside. The two had a heated argument over some of Franken's accusations at a booksellers convention that aired live on C-Span. (BookTV.org 2003) O'Reilly repeatedly told Franken to "shut up" and called him an "idiot". Fox then sued Franken and his publisher for using the words "fair and balanced" in his book's subtitle, claiming infringement of Fox News Channel's trademarked slogan, but the suit was dismissed as "wholly without merit" by a federal judge. Franken refers to O'Reilly as "Bill O'Lielly" and O'Reilly will only refer to Franken as Stuart Smalley, after a character the comedian once portrayed on Saturday Night Live. Franken's Air America radio program, launched in 2004, was initially titled 'The O'Franken Factor.'

• Ludacris - As part of his continuing criticism of gangsta rap music, O'Reilly accused Ludacris and Pepsi, who employed the rapper to advertise their cola, of targeting young people with inappropriate material. A successful boycott was launched against Pepsi, which dropped Ludacris from the their ad campaign (replacing him with Ozzy Osbourne.) Ludacris has expressed his feelings about O'Reilly on subsequent albums.

• Weapons of Mass Destruction - On ABC's Good Morning America on 18 March 2003, O'Reilly said "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." On February 10, 2004, during a Good Morning America broadcast, O'Reilly said, "My analysis was wrong and I'm sorry. I was wrong. I'm not pleased about it at all... I am much more skeptical of the Bush administration now than I was at that time." (Reuters 2004) He continues to support the U.S. presence in Iraq. However, he remains critical of how the Bush administration is handling some aspects of policy. He believes the U.S. is not relying enough on Iraqi military support and is critical of the administration's failure to secure Iraqi borders. He has also criticized the time it takes to train Iraqi security forces, as compared to U.S recruit training.

• San Francisco - On November 8, 2005, the voters of San Francisco approved Proposition I, a ballot measure that declared the city's opposition to "the federal government's use of public schools to recruit students for service in the military." (San Francisco Department of Elections 2005) In response, O'Reilly said on his radio show that federal anti-terror funds should be withheld from the city, and that the United States Government shouldn't respond to a terrorist attack if one were to occur there, to make the point the military needed to be supported by the entire country; saying, ""You know, if I'm the president of the United States, I walk right in to Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead. And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it....We're going to say, Look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead." (Garofoli 2005a) San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly responded, calling for O'Reilly's termination (Garofoli 2005b). O'Reilly refused to apologize, and claimed that his comments had been "obviously satirical." (O'Reilly 2005f)

• David Letterman - On January 4, 2006, O'Reilly appeared on the David Letterman program. When O'Reilly began a discussion on the alleged War on Christmas, Letterman replied, "I think that this is something that happened here, and it happened there, and so people like you are trying to make us think that it's a threat." Letterman accused O'Reilly of making up some of his claims on particular points on the supposed War, and O'Reilly replied with, "Then I could write for your show." When O'Reilly attacked the motivations of Cindy Sheehan, Letterman took exception, saying O'Reilly had never lost a family member in a war, and therefore O'Reilly could not speak for Sheehan's motivations. O'Reilly then asked how would those who did loose a memeber in the war, feel about Sheehan calling terrorists "freedom fighters". Letterman eventually said, "I might not be smart enough to debate you point-for-point, but I have the feeling that about 60 percent of what you say is crap." The next day on his program, O'Reilly called Letterman "a card-carrying member of the secular progressive movement". In 2001 O'Reilly had said about Letterman and the show "The late-night program hosted by David Letterman is the toughest interview show on television. That's because Mr. Letterman is a smart guy who can spot a phony with telescopic accuracy and expects his guests to bring something to the table. If a guest begins to sink on this show, the bottom is a long way down."^[4]

Sexual harassment lawsuit

On October 13, 2004, O'Reilly sued former O'Reilly Factor producer Andrea Mackris, her lawyer (Benedict P. Morelli), and Morelli's law firm for what he claimed was a politically motivated extortion attempt against him. O'Reilly's lawsuit contended that Mackris had privately demanded more than $60 million (USD) to settle a then unfiled sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News, O'Reilly, and Westwood One. A few hours after O'Reilly's filed his lawsuit, Mackris filed her complaint against Fox, et.al., alleging that, in numerous conversations, O'Reilly made inappropriate comments involving falafel, loofahs and O'Reilly's perverse sexual fantasies about Mackris. (TheSmokingGun.com 2004a) (TheSmokingGun.com 2004b)

On October 19, Mackris filed an amended complaint, providing further details of O'Reilly's alleged sexual harassment, asking for additional damages, noting no formal O'Reilly denial, and describing alleged actions of retaliation by Fox, et.al., for filing her original complaint. The detailed quotes contained in the pleading suggest that O'Reilly's comments were tape recorded by Mackris. Fox contended that Mackris was still on payroll without appearance for over two weeks and moved for court permission to dismiss Mackris, an otherwise illegal act.

On October 28, Mackris' case was settled out of court when O'Reilly agreed to pay her an undisclosed sum (Kurtz 2004); both parties withdrew their claims of wrongdoing, and agreed to keep the terms of settlement confidential. (AP 2004)

References

• ^{^none} AP (2004). Bill O'Reilly, plaintiff settle harassment suit. USAToday.com (October 29). URL accessed on December 26, 2005.


• ^{^none} BookTV.org (2003). Al Franken, Molly Ivins, & Bill O'Reilly Panel Discussion & Call-Ins. National Cable Satellite Corporation (C-Span, June 8). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Brown, Joseph (2005). O'Reilly offered to spotlight "any far-right people who have shouted down" or called for a "boycott [of] somebody to shut them up". Washington, D.C.: Media Matters for America (December 7). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^a ^b} CBS News (2004). Bill O'Reilly: 'No Spin'. CBSNews.com (portions of interview with Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes, broadcast on September 26). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Duffy, Don (1970). "Campus Stuff" (The Circle). Poughkeepsie, NY: Marist College (Originally published in The Circle on November 19, 1970). URL accessed on December 26, 2005.


• ^{^none} Gay, Verne (2005). "What's hate got to do with it?", October 18, Newsday.


• ^{^none} Garofoli, Joe (2005a). Talk host's towering rant: S.F. not worth saving. San Francisco Chronicle (November 11). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Garofoli, Joe (2005b). Local leaders unleash vitriol at O'Reilly TV host should be fired for comments about city, Daly says. San Francisco Chronicle (November 12). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Gill, Sam (2005). Fox betrays Christmas crusade, sells "Holiday" ornaments for your "Holiday tree". Washington, D.C.: Media Matters for America (November 30). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Gorman, Tom (2003). Bill O'Reilly's Fascism, Part 2: Goebbels Would Have Been Proud. Petrolia, CA: CounterPunch (on counterpunch.org, February 12, transcript of the February 4 edition of The O'Reilly Factor). URL accessed on December 26, 2005.


• ^{^none} Kincaid, Cliff (2002). Shame on Fox News. Washington, D.C.: Accuracy In Media (December 19). URL accessed on December 26, 2005.


• ^{^none} Kurtz, H. (2004). Bill O'Reilly, Producer Settle Harassment Suit. The Washington Post Co. (washingtonpost.com on October 29). URL accessed on December 26, 2005.


• ^{^none} Malinowski, Scoop (November 8, 2004). Get 2 Know Bill O'Reilly!. TheBioFILE.com. URL accessed on September 9, 2005.


• ^{^none} Marist (2001). 2001 Commencement Program. Poughkeepsie, NY: Marist College, Office of Alumni Relations (Originally published in the May 19, 2001 Commencment Program). URL accessed on December 26, 2005.


• ^{^none} O'Reilly, Bill (2005a). Undermining the War on Terror, Part 97.... FOX News Network, LLC (foxnews.com, "Talking Points," March 15). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} O'Reilly, Bill (2005b). The Houston Chronicle Strikes Back. FOX News Network, LLC (foxnews.com, "Talking Points," May 13). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} O'Reilly, Bill (2005c). Protecting America's Children: Jessica's Law Report Card. New York: Bill Me, Inc. (d/b/a billoreilly.com, c/o Bell and Co, P.C., 535 5th Avenue, 21st Floor). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} O'Reilly, Bill (2005d). The Yuletide Has Turned.... FOX News Network, LLC (foxnews.com, "Talking Points," December 5). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} O'Reilly, Bill (2005e). Merry Christmas, Maybe.... FOX News Network, LLC (foxnews.com, "Talking Points," November 29). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} O'Reilly, Bill (2005f). San Francisco... Part III. FOX News Network, LLC (foxnews.com, "Talking Points," November 18). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Reuters (2004). Conservative U.S. anchor now skeptical about Bush. Reuters (as published in The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 10). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} San Francisco Department of Elections (2005). No Military Recruiters in Public Schools, Scholarships for Education and Job Training. San Francisco Department of Elections. URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Schweber-Koren, Raphael (2005a). Self-described death penalty foe O'Reilly attacked Atlanta prosecutor for not yet seeking death penalty in Nichols case. Washington, D.C.: Media Matters for America (March 16). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Schweber-Koren, Raphael (2005b). O'Reilly again trumpeted "annoying" French boycott. Wahington, D.C.: Media Matters for America (October 27). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} Slater, Derek (2002). The O'Reilly Factor: Fox News' controversial host defends his political views and spin-free style. Harvard Political Review (HPRonline, May 14). URL accessed on December 27, 2005.


• ^{^none} TheSmokingGun.com (2004a). O'Reilly: Female Aide in $60M Extort Bid. Courtroom Television Network LLC (appeared October 13). URL accessed on July 11, 2005.


• ^{^none} TheSmokingGun.com (2004b). O'Reilly Hit With Sex Harass Suit. Courtroom Television Network LLC (appeared October 13). URL accessed on July 11, 2005.


• ^ O'Reilly, Bill (2001f). The Letterman experience. WorldNetDaily. URL accessed on January 6, 2006.