A lengthy #MeToo Facebook post by Michael Panter, a former New Jersey state legislator, has led to a $5 million defamation lawsuit being filed by Bill O’Reilly for causing “public hatred, ridicule, disgrace, and permanent harm to [O’Reilly’s] professional and personal reputations,” according to Mashable.

(No, the lawsuit isn’t describing O’Reilly’s workplace behavior)

(URGENT UPDATE below and on my FB page. Please FOLLOW me for updates. Grateful for your support, and our strength in… Posted by Michael Panter on Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Panter’s post is about his ex-girlfriend, who apparently signed an NDA about her encounters with O’Reilly and therefore couldn’t come forward herself with allegations.

O’Reilly’s recent claim that none of his coworkers had ever filed a complaint against him caused a flurry of former coworkers, including Megyn Kelly, to contradict his claim.

Bill O'Reilly, who's suing his ex-wife and her attorney, says he's "not a litigious guy" pic.twitter.com/LT7MAG8bcV — Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) October 27, 2017

O’Reilly’s reputation is already at rock bottom and he’s unemployed, so the idea that this Facebook post will cause him $5 million in damages is laughable. Secondly, his lawsuit will spread this story like wildfire, thus damaging his reputation far more than would otherwise be the case. I submit that O’Reilly is hurting his own reputation (or what’s left of it) with this ridiculous lawsuit and his need to thrust himself back into the spotlight.

Panter responded to O’Reilly’s lawsuit by leaving the post up, stating that his initial claims are true and saying,“after discussing this matter with a leading firm, I believe there is a strong basis to bring [counter] defamation claims against Mr. O’Reilly.”

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