Bill O’Reilly has lost custody of his children to his ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy, after a three-year-long custody battle, and has been reportedly accused of domestic violence, according to media website Gawker.
However, the Fox News anchor released a statement to TheWrap through his personal attorney Fred Newman on Monday night denying the claims. “All allegations against me in these circumstances are 100 percent false. I am going to respect the court-mandated confidentiality put in place to protect my children and will not comment any further.”
Though most of the documents are sealed, Gawker detailed that there have been reports stating that the justice involved heard testimony that O’Reilly physically assaulted McPhilmy.
According to a source familiar with the facts of the case, a court-appointed forensic examiner testified at a closed hearing that O’Reilly’s daughter claimed to have witnessed her father dragging McPhilmy down a staircase by her neck, apparently unaware that the daughter was watching. The precise date of the alleged incident is unclear, but appears to have occurred before the couple separated in 2010. The same source indicated that the daughter, who is 16 years old, told the forensic examiner about the incident within the past year.
After the couple’s separation, in which the two initially shared joint custody of their children, McPhilmy began dating Nassau County detective Jeffrey Gross. Gawker reported that O’Reilly allegedly used his connections with high-ranking police officers in the department to “have something done about Gross.”
This isn’t the first controversy “The O’Reilly Factor” host has dealt with. Back in 2004, O’Reilly was sued for sexual harassment by former producer, Andrea Mackris. The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
