| | | | | Exec summary: Eric Schneiderman's office is investigating the Weinstein Co... ESPN is cancelling "Barstool Van Talk..." Another Amazon Studios exec is leaving... And at the time I'm hitting send on this letter, the Eagles are beating the Redskins! | | "What awfulness went on?" | | A powerful man trying to attack the messenger instead of taking responsibility.
I could be talking about Harvey Weinstein... I could be talking about President Trump... but this time I'm talking about Trump's friend Bill O'Reilly.
The media world is still abuzz about this past weekend's NYT story revealing that O'Reilly paid $32 million to stop Lis Wiehl from suing him. Megyn Kelly asked the biggest remaining question on her show Monday morning: "What on Earth would justify that amount? What awfulness went on?" Only O'Reilly and Wiehl know for sure. But let me catch you up on all of the latest twists and turns... | | O'Reilly is blaming the NYT... | | The Times "obviously hates me," O'Reilly said when he called into Glenn Beck's radio show on Monday. He called reporter Michael Schmidt a "weasel." The NYT's "end game is, 'Let's link Bill O'Reilly with Harvey Weinstein'" and "take him out of the marketplace forever," O'Reilly said, speaking in the third person.
On his own podcast Monday night, O'Reilly went further, saying that his web show is a "fabulous success" and his new book is an "astounding" bestseller and his appearance on "Hannity" was a "big thing" -- so THAT'S why "the New York Times said, 'You know, we didn't kill him, so we've got to kill him again.'"
I wouldn't normally reprint ridiculous conspiracy theories like this, but I want you to know what O'Reilly's fans are hearing.
The truth is that Schmidt and Emily Steel worked on this story for months. They knew about the Lis Wiehl rumors last winter. They weren't able to confirm the settlement info in time for their first story about O'Reilly's secret settlements, back in April, but they kept pursuing it, and eventually got the goods. No, they didn't conjure it up because O'Reilly's book was a bestseller... 🙄 | | | --> Check out Tom Kludt's blog-style recap of O'Reilly's latest podcast rant right here... | | O'Reilly is also blaming CNN and Media Matters and... | | | O'Reilly claims there's a conspiracy hell bent on taking him down. CNN, he says, is "salivating" over this story. Quite the opposite, Mr. O'Reilly. This story is disturbing. Tune into the 7 a.m. hour of "New Day" Tuesday morning and see if I'm "salivating..." | | | "This must stop. The abuse of women, the shaming of them, the threatening, the retaliation." That's what Megyn Kelly said in a powerful intro on Monday morning. If you missed it, here's the video... | | From her NBC perch, Kelly rebuked O'Reilly and had an exclusive interview with Juliet Huddy, one of the women who settled with Fox after alleging that O'Reilly sexually harassed her. Tom Kludt has a complete recap here.
O'Reilly's camp fought back -- rep Mark Fabiani sent around a pair of thank you notes that Kelly had sent O'Reilly years earlier. One was from 2009. The other was from 2012...
-- Tom adds: O'Reilly wasn't the only person to publish internal communications on Monday. After Kelly described it on-air, NBC News published the email she sent to Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy last year to complain about O'Reilly... | | Kelly also called out her former network and named names -- including PR boss Irena Briganti, who Kelly said is "known for her vindictiveness."
Kelly's husband Doug Brunt joined in, tweeting "Who has been doing the bidding of Irena Briganti?" He tagged Lloyd Grove and Elizabeth Wagmeister. Grove responded: "Not me Doug." And Wagmeister -- who's been writing tough pieces about Kelly's new show -- said "I've never met or spoken to Irena..."
-- 21st Century Fox defended Briganti: "Irena is a valued colleague and she has our full support." | | Brian Lowry emails: Obviously, the O'Reilly-Fox News story was a very specific one for Megyn Kelly, to which she had a personal connection. But what she brought to that piece offers a better idea of what NBC likely thought it was buying when the network hired her than the Ellen DeGeneres-type persona she's been trying to project on her morning program, and might present a road map on how to fix it...
-- Related: Julia Wallace writing for USA Today: "NBC needs to revive fearless Courtroom Kelly" and stop "making her dance..." | | Another rift: O'Reilly and one of the men who used to fill in for him, Eric Bolling. When O'Reilly spoke with the NYT last week, he said, "I urge you to think about what you put in your newspaper. Eric Bolling's son is dead. He's dead because of allegations made -- in my opinion and I know this to be true -- against Mr. Bolling."
Bolling took offense. "I believe it is beyond inappropriate for anyone to bring in the tragic death of my son Eric Chase Bolling," he told me in a statement. "Just as Bill O'Reilly had wanted to shield his children from the allegations against him, I hope he will honor my request and avoid any future mentions of my son. My parting from Fox News was in no way connected to the tragic news of my son's passing. The coroner has in fact indicated to us that they believe it was an accident."
O'Reilly then apologized to Bolling via Twitter... | | | If all these subplots seem crazy -- well, that's kinda the point. This story has splintered off in lots of different directions... | | -- My report on Monday night's "AC360" included a clip of O'Reilly on Sean Hannity's show last month. Never say never, but it's highly unlikely O'Reilly will ever be welcomed back on Fox now...
-- Shoutout to The Daily... the NYT's beloved podcast published audio clips of Steel and Schmidt's interview with O'Reilly, so we could hear him saying "we have physical proof that this is bullshit," plus my personal "favorite" quote, "Leaks are not facts..."
-- Since O'Reilly attempted to "shame female colleagues by citing thank-you notes," the WashPost's Erik Wemple wrote O'Reilly a note...
-- TVNewser's Chris Ariens writes: "As his sister was appearing on the Today show this morning, talking about her sexual harassment claim against Bill O'Reilly, Fox News correspondent John Huddy was being told he was losing his job." The worst possible timing, even if Fox was fully justified to fire him...
-- Hadas Gold emails: Experts told me the O'Reilly revelations alone won't sink the pending Sky deal, but it sure doesn't help. (Look out for Gold's full story on Tuesday...) | | Kludt gets the final word | | Tom Kludt emails his analysis: At every turn throughout this rolling scandal, O'Reilly has cast himself as a victim, a powerful man who was wrongly accused but fell on his sword (and shelled out millions) all to protect his children. And to make the martyrdom all the more pronounced, O'Reilly has lamented that the legal agreements preclude him from properly clearing his name. On the radio, Glenn Beck tried his best to defend his former Fox colleague, but admitted that the limited nature of the discussion was frustrating. "I know it's frustrating," O'Reilly said. "It's very frustrating. You can imagine me, being accused of everything under the sun."
But I think O'Reilly would rather keep this storyline vague. It's helped him mostly avoid talking about the specific allegations levied against him, and it's allowed him to describe the matter in terms that will resonate with his most ardent fans: "It's a politically motivated hit job, driven by a corrupt and biased press." See, by keeping the story in reductive territory, O'Reilly is attempting to turn a scandal into yet another source for his victimhood, the lifeblood of his career... | | (WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?) | | ESPN scraps Barstool partnership | | ESPN suddenly gave up on its partnership with Barstool Sports on Monday afternoon... After airing just one episode of a new late night talk show, "Barstool Van Talk..." As Frank Pallotta reported here, the Barstool brand is known for its bawdy and offensive sports commentary.
John Skipper said he "erred in assuming we could distance our efforts from the Barstool site and its content." Read more... | | | -- Yashar Ali tweets: "How have top executives at ESPN kept their jobs? I have never seen so many bad decisions made in such a short period of time." | | CNN's new marketing campaign: "Facts First" | | | You'll be seeing this apple in CNN's newsletters... You might have already seen it on CNN's television broadcasts... It's the start of a new marketing campaign by the network, "Facts First," emphasizing the network's mission. Variety's Brian Steinberg spoke with CNN CMO and EVP Allison Gollust about it... | | | -- This part of the mission statement resonated with me: "Once facts are established, opinions can be formed. And while opinions matter, they don't change the facts..." | | | Hadas Gold emails: Greta Van Susteren has found a new journalistic home, as a contributing reporter to Voice of America. She told me at the International Women's Media Foundation gala at the Newseum Monday night that she's been a big fan of VOA for some time and is working for them pro-bono. She approached VOA out of the blue with the idea of working together and told me this gives her the opportunity to focus on stories that don't get much airtime on cable. Her first segment was with Sen. Lindsey Graham to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, which posted last week. The exact nature of the relationship hasn't been hammered out, but Amanda Bennett, the head of VOA, told me they're thrilled Van Susteren is on board... | | -- Hats off to George Stephanopoulos for his impressive interview with Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt. La David Johnson... (ABC)
-- A "tearful televised reactions:" CNN's Don Lemon "shared an open letter addressed to President Trump and Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson..." (Mediaite)
-- Lengthy new story from the NYT: "Russia's Favored Outlet Is an Online News Giant. YouTube Helped." (NYT)
-- "Chef John Besh, facing sexual harassment allegations, leaves the restaurant company he founded..." (The Advocate) | | CORRECTION: The World Series starts Tuesday! | | | Hundreds of you -- literally hundreds -- emailed me about the stupid error in Sunday night's newsletter. Thank you all for flagging it! Yes, Dodgers-Astros game 1 is on TUESDAY night... not Monday... clearly I have a lot to learn about baseball... | | Another Amazon Studios exec is out | | | "The executive shakeup at Amazon Studios continues," Deadline's Nellie Andreeva and Dominic Patten reported Monday night. "Just days after studio head Roy Price was fired following a suspension over sexual harassment allegations, also out is his top lieutenant, Head of Half Hour and Drama Series Development Joe Lewis. He is in negotiations for a producing deal with the streaming company..." | | N.Y. Attorney General is investigating | | | The office of New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman is investigating the studio to find out if Harvey Weinstein or any other employees broke the law. A subpoena was issued on Monday by the office's Civil Rights Bureau... CNN's Brynn Gingrass got the details from a source in the office... Here's our full story... | | The Toback accuser count keeps growing | | Glenn Whipp's original LATimes story counted 38 women making sexual harassment allegations against James Toback. Whipp tweeted on Monday evening: "Since this story published on Sunday, 193 additional women have contacted me to talk about Toback." Stunning...
-- Related: Lisa Respers France emails: Hollywood has a lot to say about Toback... Read all about it here... | | Sawyer scores sit-down with Judd | | Megan Thomas emails: Ashley Judd, whose account of alleged harassment by Harvey Weinstein gave dozens of other women the courage to come forward, will give her first interview since the scandal broke to ABC's Diane Sawyer on Thursday...
-- Stelter's speculation: Both women have Kentucky roots... Maybe that's what helped Sawyer snag the interview? | | "Hunting Ground" filmmakers are working on this now... | | | Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, who teamed up on "The Hunting Ground," the Weinstein-distributed doc about campus rape, "have begun work on an untitled documentary about sexual assault in Hollywood," Variety's Dave McNary reported Monday. "The exposé will examine abuse and cover-ups within the entertainment industry and focus on the behavior of 'predatory perpetrators,' such as Harvey Weinstein. The project will also explore the culture that enables and protects them..." | | Hollywood doing what it does best... | | | Via Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr.: "As all eyes in Hollywood focus on sexual harassment and rooting out the thugs who practiced it for years, Good Universe just beat out three other bidders to land 'Disruptors,' the timely pitch for a movie that focuses on Susan Fowler, the Uber engineer whose blog post about sexual harassment" exposed the company's cultural problems. He says "Fowler's book on the subject also went out to publishers last week with multiple bidders; it is expected to be scooped up quickly..." | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- Another senseless attack against a reporter: A top Russian journalist was stabbed to death by an assailant who broke into the studio of independent radio station Ekho Moskvy... (AP)
-- Brendan Nyhan argues that data on the effectiveness of the fact-checking taking place at Facebook is insufficient, and that "the fight against fake news must be won in public..." (NYT)
-- Dream job alert: the NYT is hiring a reporter to travel to 52 destinations around the world in the span of 1 year... (NYT) | | About Facebook's latest test... | | Right now this is just being tried in six countries. Not the U.S. But "Facebook is testing a major change that would shift non-promoted posts out of its news feed, a move that could be catastrophic for publishers relying on the social network for their audience," The Guardian reports...
-- Peter Kafka tweets: "Conspiracy angle: FB wants more $ from publishers! More accurate, and dispiriting angle (for publishers): FB doesn't care about publishers..." | | | For the record, part three | | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- Andy Kroll's long read about Sinclair Broadcasting is really a warning... (Mother Jones)
-- Laura Ingraham, "a known tyrant?" Employees who spoke to The Daily Beast say that working with Ingraham is not pleasant... (The Daily Beast)
-- This is a good read about The Trace, a Brooklyn-based news organization covering gun-related news 365 days a year, not just in the event of a mass shooting... (CJR)
-- The NYT's Sydney Ember profiles Matthew Henick, the man in charge of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures in Hollywood... (NYT)
-- A journalist in the making? An 11-year-old Cub Scout in Colorado got kicked out of his den after pressing a state senator on gun control legislation and race... (NYT) | | Lowry reviews "Stranger Things" season two | | | Brian Lowry emails: As one of the few critics who wasn't bowled over by "Stranger Things," I found a lot to like in the second season -- including the younger kids, and the way the show evokes such a strong sense of the time -- along with some of the same shortcomings. Nevertheless, it's a major attraction for Netflix, which drops the new episodes on Oct. 27. Read Lowry's full column here... | | | Brian Lowry emails: "Star Wars Rebels" is the latest first-rate animated series to feature a less-trodden quadrant of the "Star Wars" galaxy, but the Disney XD series has sort of run out of real estate as Lucasfilm, under Disney, steps up its theatrical efforts. Series supervisor Dave Filoni discussed the upcoming series finale, and where the animation portion of "Star Wars" might go from here... Check out the full story here... | | | For the record, part four | | | By Lisa Respers France:
-- You can seriously let go of the dream of a "Sex and the City 3" with the original cast. Star Kim Cattrall says she was "never friends" with them in the first place...
-- John Stamos relied on some animated characters when he proposed to girlfriend Caitlin McHugh at Disneyland. Spoiler alert: she said yes...
-- Oh, and here's why Justin Bieber's torso is in the news... | | Essay: Would the W.H. ever act without media pressure? | | | That's the question I raised in this essay on Sunday's "Reliable." The opioid crisis... Hurricane Maria... the Niger ambush... that $25,000 check... Time and time again, media Q's cause President Trump to take action.... BTW, that $25,000 check has now arrived in NC... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate every message. The feedback helps us craft the next day's newsletter! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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