Last night, Jezebel published a report describing an affidavit supposedly filed by the ex-wife of Bill O'Reilly, the former Maureen McPhilmy O’Reilly, alleging that the fired Fox News host physically assaulted her after she discovered him having phone sex with an unidentified woman.
According to a description of the affidavit provided by editor and writer J.K. Trotter, McPhilmy claimed the assault occurred in the couple's Manhasset, New York home in December of 2009. Trotter reports that the signed and notarized document is dated October 10, 2011.
Details in the affidavit appear to align with the earlier reports of O'Reilly's alleged spousal abuse surfaced during the extensive divorce and custody proceedings between the former partners — some of which are still ongoing.
Trotter says that the document claims McPhilmy, "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." It further alleges that the former host dragged her through the couple's house and down a flight of stairs by the neck. It suggests that the assault only ended with O'Reilly's own security guard saw the assault.
Previous reports by Gawker Media and other sources have detailed McPhilmy's claims that the couple's daughter witnessed an apparently similar incident. Trotter says, "It’s unclear whether the incident described by McPhilmy is the same one witnessed by her daughter." Other suits and allegations have claimed that O'Reilly has a history with phone sex that overlaps with at least some of the sexual harassment charges leveed against him
Trotter also claims that, "Rumors of the contents of McPhilmy’s affidavit have circulated in the New York City media world for some time," and that editors of the New York Times have a copy in their possession.
Trotter's report comes less than a month after O'Reilly's employer, Fox News, dismissed the host — who's style, positions and popularity helped define network and, indeed, cable news for over 20 years — reportedly due to a mounting wave of popular and advertiser pressure stemming from a series of sexual-harassment allegations. Jezebel did not receive comment on their reporting from O'Reilly, McPhilmy or their respective representatives.
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