Former Fox News Anchor Laurie Dhue Files Lawsuit Against Bill O'Reilly Alleging Defamation 

On Thursday, former Fox News anchor (from 2000 to 2008), Laurie Dhue, became the fourth woman to file a defamation lawsuit against former Fox host Bill O’Reilly after reaching a settlement resulting from harassment allegations against the same.

In April, the New York Times reported that Dhue settled with Fox News’s parent company 21st Century Fox for more than $1 million after alleging that O’Reilly sexually harassed her. Hers is one of six settled harassment suits against O’Reilly, that the public knows of; the money awarded in these cases combine to around $45 million, according to the Times.

The Times reported on Thursday that an excerpt from the new lawsuit, written by Dhue’s attorneys, reads:

“As part of his desperate campaign to clear his name, O’Reilly published false statements about Dhue—as well as the other women—calling her a liar, swearing that her allegations were fabricated in an effort to obtain a settlement, falsely asserting that her purported claims against O’Reilly were politically motivated and lying by saying that he only paid settlements to avoid having his family go through litigation, not because he had engaged in the claimed sexual misconduct.”

Furthermore, the lawsuit contends that these comments were intended to harm Dhue’s reputation and, by extension, her career.

O’Reilly’s attorney, Frederic S. Newman, denied Dhue’s claim in a statement:

“Mr. O’Reilly has never mentioned Dhue, and any attention she has received has been the result of her own actions. Mr. O’Reilly will defend himself in court fully and aggressively against all unfounded, opportunistic claims, and he will seek all appropriate legal remedies as well.”