Two women who had previously settled with former Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly have joined a defamation suit against the host and Fox News. (TVNewser)
Andrea Mackris and Rebecca Gomez Diamond joined the defamation suit. They, like Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, had entered into settlement agreements stemming from alleged sexual harassment from O’Reilly, and now say O’Reilly violated those settlements by speaking publicly about the accusations. (Deadline)
O’Reilly, who was fired in response to an April 1 report in The New York Times detailing the settlements, denied that anyone had complained to Fox’s human resources department. He later claimed the allegations against him were politically and financially motivated. Fox News also stated in the April 1 story that no one had made use of the company’s harassment hotline. (Variety)
Representatives defending O’Reilly noted he never named any of the women when making his comments about the settlements. (HuffPost)
Bernstein is also suing for breach of contract. Her allegations did not include sexual harassment. (NYT)