Apparently big-mouth Bill O’Reilly’s children don’t want any spin either. The host of “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News known for his “no spin zone” motto lost custody of his teenage children after a custody battle that lasted several years. The case reached an appeals court in New York which chose to affirm the lower court’s original decision allowing the children to stay with their mom, Maureen McPhilmy, full-time. In other words, the O’Reilly tots do not have to spend time with him if they choose not to.
The judicial decision is an affront to O’Reilly who is known for using his show as a platform for telling other people, especially the lower income and people of color, what is wrong with their families. He has made such ridiculous assertions as allowing kids to listen to Beyonce’s music leads to teen pregnancy, and also that gentle liberal-style parenting leads to American crises such as Miley Cyrus twerking on stage at the MTV Music Awards.
O’Reilly’s explosive anger he displays on his T.V. show apparently is no act. O’Reilly’s daughter described an incident in which O’Reilly assaulted her mom during a fit of hysteria, according to the testimony of a court-appointed forensic examiner. The investigator said O’Reilly’s daughter witnessed the attack, and watched her father drag her mother, McPhilmy, down the stairs by her neck.
He is also accused of trying to have his ex-wife excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by using his influence and celebrity status.
O’Reilly must not practice the morals he so frequently preaches on his show, though he denies the allegations. Neither of those incidents sound like examples of good family values.
The appeals court didn’t like O’Reilly’s version of family values either, and ruled that it was in the best interests of the children and “particularly relevant in this case are the clearly stated preferences of the children,” that they live with their mother.