Funny how Bill O’Reilly’s divorce in 2011 didn’t make national headlines, particularly when every B list actor/actress/model/athlete/musician/singer’s divorce is splayed across the headlines in every newspaper, blog, and gossip rag.
While the divorce may have been low-profile, website Gawker released a story this week that is not likely to go unnoticed.
Gawker reports that Mr. O’Reilly and his much younger ex-wife Maureen McPhilmy, who were married for fifteen years, resolved their differences via a separation agreement wherein they share joint custody of their two children, ages 10 and 13 at the time of the divorce.
The agreement provided that the children’s counsellor, Lynn Kulakowski, would be utilized as a neutral expert to assist the parties if disputes arose regarding their children.
The cause of the current dispute between the exs’ is that unbeknownst to Maureen McPhilmy, Bill O’Reilly put Ms. Kulakowski on his payroll as a nanny for the children when they are resident with him.
So much for any expectation that psychologist/nanny Lynn can impart objective parenting advice while Mr. O’Reilly pays her a “six-figure salary”, according to Gawker.
The parties were recently in a New York appeal court where the court ordered that the issues raised by Ms. McPhilmy be resolved in a trial and the children be represented by independent counsel.
The case is listed in the New York court registry as “Anonymous 2011-1 v. Anonymous 2011-2”. Not sure what the New York rules are, but in British Columbia the shielding of the names of litigants is the exception, not the rule, hence, the publicly battling Aquilinis’, Mr. being an owner of the Vancouver Canucks and many other enterprises.
Gawker also reports that Bill O’Reilly’s ex married the man she was having an affair with, a member of the local constabulary. Apparently O’Reilly has done everything possible to destroy the police officer’s career.
Meanwhile the Catholic Church, at O’Reilly’s request, has condemned Ms. McPhilmy for her remarriage, which is against church policy and O’Reilly is pursuing an annulment of the marriage.
Altogether a nasty situation and likely to get worse. Probably the last person one would want to battle is the irrepressible Bill O’Reilly.
I wonder what he thinks now of his trademark phrase “We Report, You Decide”?
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