FOX NEWS SEX FOLLIES

"It took 15 days to end the mighty 20-year reign of Roger Ailes at Fox News, one of the most storied runs in media and political history. Ailes built not just a conservative cable news channel but something like a fourth branch of government; a propaganda arm for the GOP; an organization that determined Republican presidential candidates, sold wars, and decided the issues of the day for 2 million viewers." Now the sexism at FOX News is in the open. One the prime examples is Bill O'Reilly.[1]

The O'Reilly Factor

Fox News personality Bill O'Rielly faces a lawsuit filed by a female producer who alleged in her in her complaint years of quid pro quo sexual harassment from her boss, who played “a morally upright, independent political pundit” on television but had a proclivity for one-sided phone sex.

On October 13, 2004, O’Reilly was sued in a sexual harassment lawsuit for $60,000,000 by his former producer named Andrea Mackris.  Mackris was an employee of Fox from 2000, with lawsuit documents showing O’Reilly’s rabid sexual harassment began in May 2002 and continued until September 2004.  Mackris filed a wild document full of O’Reilly’s exploits.   

The fallout was immense, with O’Reilly counter-suing Mackris for extortion before finally settling the lawsuit for an untold amount of money that is generally believed to have been in the millions of dollars.  I suppose that I could stop there with the story, but what fun would that be?

Before the case was settled a salacious 22-page document was presented to the court where Mackris was said to have various audio recordings of O’Reilly calling her numerous times to enact his sexual fetish of phone sex.  The sordid scenario began

innocuously enough.  Mackris was informed on May of 2002 that she would no longer employed by FOX for $56,000 a year.  O’Reilly heard of this and invited Mackris to dinner where he informed her that she was re-hired and with a raise to $65,000!  What a guy, right?  Always looking out for his employees, but all was not what it seemed.  After giving Mackris the good news O’Reilly made his move.  From the original court documents:

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has lost custody of his two teenage children following an alleged domestic violence incident, according to court documents. A New York appeals court upheld a ruling that denied Mr. O'Reilly sole residential custody and status as sole decision-maker for the 17-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son he had with his ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy, the New York Daily News reported. The Fox News host will still have visitation rights with his kids on alternating weekends and some holidays.

Roughly three weeks before the 2004 presidential election came an October surprise of sorts, not one that damaged either political party but one that dropped like a bomb in the media’s proxy war. Bill O’Reilly was sued by Factor associate producer Andrea Mackris, who in her complaint alleged years of quid pro quo sexual harassment from her boss, who played “a morally upright, independent political pundit” on television but had a proclivity for one-sided phone sex.

In a children’s book released a month earlier, the Fox News host wrote, “Thanks to some of the loonier films and magazines today, many of you know a lot about unusual sexual practices.” The allegations against him proved enlightening as well, when the complaint was published by the Smoking Gun: Mackris, 33, alleged the blunt-talking head urged her to “just use your vibrator to blow off steam” and bragged about his international sexual exploits, including, but not limited to, “a little short brown woman” in a Bali massage cabana, two “really wild” Scandinavian stewardesses, and a Thai-sex-show “backroom” special.

O’Reilly allegedly touched himself while detailing a shower fantasy featuring Mackris and “that little loofah thing” but later in the call, evidently flustered, referred to the prop as a “falafel thing.” When he was finished, Mackris said, O’Reilly praised his own recent appearance on the Tonight Show. Details all out, the suit was settled about two weeks later, while the audiotapes Makris was thought to have were kept secret. O’Reilly’s ratings were reportedly up 30 percent.

The New York Times reported: “Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny,” Ms. Tantaros’s suit says.

During arbitration, Mr. Burstein said, Fox News offered to pay her a sum “in the seven figures” if she renounced claims against Mr. Ailes and others at the network, including the host Bill O’Reilly. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Tantaros said she had been subjected to unwelcome advances from Mr. O’Reilly, whom she had regarded as a friend and adviser.

All that family values stuff that Fox News spent hours spewing was nothing more than marketing to socially conservative viewers. The problem for Fox News is that Tantaros’ lawsuit is threatening to blow the lid off the network and all of their dark secrets in public. This isn’t the first time that Bill O’Reilly has been accused of sexual harassment. In 2004, O’Reilly settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by a Fox News producer.

The lawsuit accuses O’Reilly of trying to lure Tantaros to his Long Island home so that he could see her “wild side.” When she refused his advances, Tantaros was banned from appearing on O’Reilly’s show.

With reports running rampant that the backup plan for Donald Trump is if he loses the election is to team up with Roger Ailes and Breitbart to form a new conservative media empire, what we could be witnessing is the demise of Fox News. O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Greta Van Susteren all have clauses in their contracts that allow them to leave because Ailes is gone.

If Trump loses the election, the combination of the sexual harassment lawsuits and a new Ailes/Trump conservative media venture could trigger a mass exodus from Fox News. Fox News is surrounded by internal and external threats, and the network is in more danger than most people in the media are willing to admit publicly. The era of Fox News’ ratings dominance may be close to coming to an end.[2]

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[1] Gabriel Sherman, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News – and Divided a Country, February 6, 2014, Random House, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House, LLC. Copyright© 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/books/review/gabriel-shermans-loudest-voice-in-the-room.html?_r=0

[2] Gabriel Sherman, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News – and Divided a Country, February 6, 2014, Random House, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House, LLC. Copyright© 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/books/review/gabriel-shermans-loudest-voice-in-the-room.html?_r=0