Did Bill O’Reilly Fabricate His L.A. Riot ‘Bombardment’ Story?

Another day, another set of allegations that Bill O’Reilly has not been truthful, according to his former news colleagues. Today’s allegations come via The Guardian and pertain to O’Reilly’s claims about being attacked by protesters during riots in Los Angeles in 1992.

From The Guardian:

Six people who covered the riots with O’Reilly in California for Inside Edition told the Guardian they did not recall an incident in which, as O’Reilly has claimed, “concrete was raining down on us” and “we were attacked by protesters”.

Several members of the team suggested that O’Reilly may instead be overstating a fracas involving one disgruntled Los Angeles resident, who smashed one of their cameras with a piece of rubble.

Two of the team said the man was angered specifically by O’Reilly behaving disrespectfully after arriving at the smoking remains of his neighbourhood in a limousine, whose driver at one point began polishing the vehicle. O’Reilly is said to have shouted at the man and asked him: “Don’t you know who I am?”

The entire article is a fascinating insight into O’Reilly’s boorish behavior and how little respect his colleagues hold for him.

According to The Guardian, Fox refused to answer questions about O'Reilly's recollection of the riots, calling the claims “nothing more than an orchestrated campaign by far left advocates”.

Drip, drip, drip.

(H/T Media Matters)

photo credit: Bill O’Reilly - Caricature via photopin (license)

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Showing 16 reactions

commented 2015-02-27 20:59:52 -0500 · Flag

Is this the same Bill O’Reilly who mocked Reece Witherspoon for saying “…but, don’t you know who I am?”
In fact, it appears O’Reilly said it long before she did.

commented 2015-02-27 12:53:33 -0500 · Flag

There’s a good op-ed at CNN calling on O’Reilly to humbly apologize so he could move on with some grace. O’Reilly is unlikely of course to ever do so. The only times I’ve seen him apologize for mistakes were when it was on his terms. In this situation, I think he’d sooner eat quiche than admit that “guttersnipe” David Corn was right.

The overall impact of this on his reputation doesn’t really change anything. It just continues to frustrate his dream of becoming a respected elder statesman rather than a pundit who made himself rich by exploiting people’s baser instincts. And this is yet another piece of evidence of how hypocritical Fox News truly is.

commented 2015-02-27 12:10:01 -0500 · Flag

The difference is standards. When you are an entertainer like O’Reilly is, the standards are considerably lower. Unless he loses an advertiser or two or viewership drops off, there is no reason for Fox to care a whit about this. O’Reilly is quickly becoming like Pat Robertson. He is still on the air. People still watch. But nobody really listens.

commented 2015-02-27 12:08:32 -0500 · Flag

From w d’s comment:

“Maybe it was a nun with a gun that threw the concrete at Bill.”

Actually w d, there’s PLENTY of irrefutable “concrete” evidence out there that proves conclusively that he’s nothing but a PERENNIALLY SPOILED AND PAMPERED PATHOLOGICAL LIAR!

commented 2015-02-27 11:37:21 -0500 · Flag

Maybe it was a nun with a gun that threw the concrete at Bill.

commented 2015-02-27 11:34:39 -0500 · Flag

So Bill slides up in a limo to a burning house in the middle of a riot and screams, “Do you know who I am?”

Man, it must just KILL O’Reilly that he didn’t become a Hollywood movie producer who could sexually harass employees (Mackris) and get away with it.

commented 2015-02-27 10:50:24 -0500 · Flag

“Bill was being Bill – complaining ‘people are in my eye line’ – and kind of being very insensitive to the situation.” Kirkham said: “It was just so out of line. He starts barking commands about ‘this isn’t good enough for me’, ‘this isn’t gonna work’, ‘who’s in charge here?’ The man shouted abuse at O’Reilly and the team, crew members said, and O’Reilly ordered him to shut up. He asked “don’t you know who I am?’,” according to two members of the team.”
-———-

BOR on one of his typical ego trips.

And BOR arrived to the burned-out neighborhood in a chauffeur driven limousine?! If true, how elitist of him. LOL!

“A spokeswoman for Fox News declined to respond to detailed questions about O’Reilly’s recollections of the Los Angeles riots” but said that this is “nothing more than an orchestrated campaign by far left advocates”.

Sorry, spokeswoman, but, just because the questions come from an organization on the left, it does not mean that the questions aren’t valid. Nor does it mean that BOR is exempt from answering to them. BOR has shown to be a bragging exaggerator at the very least and/or, at the worst, a journalist who deliberately lied about actual news events in order to build himself up. Either way, neither one reflects very well on your prime time cash cow, FOX “news”.

commented 2015-02-27 10:40:42 -0500 · Flag

Bildo is no Ernie Pyle or Edward R. Murrow. More like Ted Baxter.

commented 2015-02-27 10:22:41 -0500 · Flag

The O’Reilly revelations are a result of Brian Williams’ unfortunate misrememberance. Brian Williams immediately lost credibility, but there is a huge difference when comparing him to O’Reilly. Brain Williams has actually been in the thick of war. On that mission in Iraq, he was in a frightening and dangerous situation, whether he was in the helicopter that took RPG fire or in a following one that didn’t. I really doubt that O’Reilly could have dragged himself onto that helicopter. O’Reilly is making up stories to glorify himself, and his countless lies are being exposed daily. In the end, I root for Brian Williams to return and thrive and for O’Reilly to shut up and go away.

commented 2015-02-27 09:01:25 -0500 · Flag

Maybe he saw concrete raining down in a VIDEO and thought he was there. Or maybe his new excuse will be that he dreamt it. LOL

commented 2015-02-27 07:45:22 -0500 · Flag

Now he needs to lie to cover up the other lies.

commented 2015-02-27 02:38:20 -0500 · Flag

The hits just keep on coming, and it’s always someone else’s fault.

commented 2015-02-27 00:40:07 -0500 · Flag

“Don’t you know who I am?” After he pulls into a burned-out neighborhood in a limo and tells his driver to polish it up.

It’s about time I heard that out of his mouth. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.

commented 2015-02-26 23:47:34 -0500 · Flag

The phony cafeteria Catholic suits are to blame for allowing Billy to behave in an unprofessional manner. These losers let these mouthpieces get away with everything.

If a mouthpiece was involved in a DUI, and they killed a person in a traffic accident, these foolish suits would allow the mouthpieces to continue their shows.

These third-rate senior producers and producers are useless and incompetent. They wouldn’t know how to run an ice machine.

commented 2015-02-26 22:17:03 -0500 · Flag

“Hold the media responsible… Except for me.” -Bill O’Reilly.

NewsHounds posted about Did Bill O’Reilly Fabricate His L.A. Riot ‘Bombardment’ Story? on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2015-02-26 21:09:40 -0500

Drip, drip, drip