New report accuses Bill O'Reilly of domestic violence against ex-wife

O'Reilly's 16-year-old daughter said she witnessed him dragging his ex-wife down a staircase by her neck

Published May 18, 2015 8:14PM (EDT)

  (Frank Micelotta/invision/AP)
(Frank Micelotta/invision/AP)

Gawker has uncovered new details today concerning the at-times brutal three-year custody dispute between Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly and ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy. In one instance, court documents say, O'Reilly violently attacked McPhilmy and dragged her down a staircase by the neck.

According to a "source familiar with the facts of the case," O'Reilly's 16-year-old daughter allegedly told the forensic examiner assigned to the case that she'd witnessed the attack. Gawker was not able to confirm the date of the incident but speculates that it happened well before the formalized divorce in 2011.

This domestic violence charge is just the tip of the iceberg in a long and contentious history of conflict between O'Reilly and McPhilmy that centered around their separation and divorce in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

In the last five years, O'Reilly has allegedly committed several acts of harassment against McPhilmy. Most recently, it culminated with the Fox News anchor trying to get her excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church where the two were married. The news outlet reported at the time of the incident that the church reprimanded her for "telling her children that her second marriage was valid in the eyes of God."

Well before that, O'Reilly called for an internal affairs investigation into his ex-wife's new boyfriend, a Nassau County Police detective, in 2010 after the two had separated.

O'Reilly has a reputation as a hot-tempered workplace bully. His famous "Inside Edition" meltdown has become Internet folklore, in which the frustrated anchor screamed at producers "We'll do it live!" and ended by throwing down his microphone and storming off set.

O’Reilly was sued in a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former Fox producer who claimed that he called her several times for unsolicited phone sex. The two ultimately reached a settlement rumored to be between $2 million and $10 million.


By Colin Gorenstein

Colin Gorenstein is Salon's assistant editor of internet and viral content. Follow @colingorenstein or email cgorenstein@salon.com.

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