Two more women join defamation suit against O’Reilly, Fox News

Two more women have joined the defamation lawsuit against Fox News and former host Bill O’Reilly, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Andrea Mackris and Rebecca Gomez Diamond, who settled separate sexual harassment cases against O’Reilly, have joined a lawsuit filed by Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, alleging that both Fox News and the conservative personality violated the terms of the settlement by making statements portraying them as politically motivated liars.

Bernstein, who also reached a settlement after bringing allegations against O’Reilly, filed the lawsuit earlier this month, the Times reported. Her accusations did not include sexual harassment. 

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O’Reilly was booted from Fox News earlier this year after it was revealed that he and the network had paid tens of millions of dollars to settle a series of sexual harassment allegations against the host.

Mackris, a former producer on O’Reilly’s Fox News show, sued him for sexual harassment in 2004. Diamond, a former Fox Business Network host, reached a settlement in 2011 after bringing sexual harassment allegations against O’Reilly.

Both women are alleging in the lawsuit that O’Reilly and Fox News defamed them by casting them as liars and extortionists, the Times reported. 

“They are tired of being smeared with lies by a bully who thinks that his victims are afraid to answer to them,” Nancy Erika Smith, a lawyer representing the women, said in a statement to the Times.

“They are standing up for the truth, joining the many voices of brave women who are no longer tolerating abuse or being silenced,” she added. 

An O’Reilly attorney said in a statement that the latest filing has “absolutely no merit.”

“Mr. O’Reilly never mentioned any of the plaintiffs, but now he has no choice but to litigate fully and aggressively,” Fredric Newman added.

— This report was updated at 2:16 p.m.