Prince sues Bill O'Reilly
Prince Frederic von Anhalt filed a $10 million lawsuit against Fox host Bill O'Reilly after O'Reilly called the prince a fraud for suggesting that he might be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby:
O'Reilly, host of "The O'Reilly Factor," challenged Von Anhalt to take a lie detector test after he filed the paternity claim in mid-February. Von Anhalt initially accepted but later changed his mind when he learned how long the test would take, said Edward Lee, his attorney.
According to a transcript of the Feb. 23 show, O'Reilly called Von Anhalt a "fraud" and a "nut," though he added: "I say nut in an affectionate way."
"Look, this guy's a fraud," O'Reilly said on the show. "We know he's a fraud."
Von Anhalt feels the show crippled his credibility in the community, Lee said.
"He's really embarrassed," Lee said. "He's been getting a ton of phone calls, a ton of e-mails, from people looking down on him." [LAT]
And thus, the circle closes, as the media industrial complex comes back to bite itself in the ass.
HT: Romenesko.
You should probably update the title to "A Prince..." from "Prince..."
At first I thought you meant the musician.
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | March 17, 2007 at 05:51 PM
O'Reilly must love getting sued.
Posted by: revenantive | March 17, 2007 at 05:55 PM
Eric, made you look though, right? I thought about writing the headline "Bill O'Reilly sued by prince" just to eliminate the ambiguity, but then I thought the ambiguity was kind of fun.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | March 17, 2007 at 06:05 PM
Yeah, the headline is more attention-grabbing if readers think it's about the Prince who sang "Purple Rain."
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | March 17, 2007 at 06:21 PM
And I thought that you meant the artist... ;-)
Posted by: Account Deleted | March 17, 2007 at 06:21 PM
O'Reilly ... challenged Von Anhalt to take a lie detector test after he filed the paternity claim...
Pardon my ignorance, but what standing does Bill O'Reilly have to challenge this guy to do anything? Is O'Reilly one of the deceased's relatives? Why does he care about it one way or the other? What does it have to do with conservative groupthink?
Posted by: Tim Bailey | March 17, 2007 at 09:13 PM
Let's really, really hope not...
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | March 17, 2007 at 09:17 PM
I don't care much for O'Reilly, but good for him for saying that.
The guy IS a fraud. He pretends to be a prince, while he's no such thing. And his taste in women is disgraceful.
His chance of winning this lawsuit are lower than zero.
Posted by: The Phantom | March 17, 2007 at 11:10 PM
i really don't know much about this prince character, but i have to wonder about the nature of O'Reilly's ability to create situations like this. This sort of event seems to happen every couple of season on Fox News.
it would seem to me, that if you have a fake prince with bad tastes in women, and O'Reilly stuck together in the same room.......there would be a common misogynist group-think happening on multiple levels.
the funny thing about this whole episode to me is what's on tape and wide open to view. this is unlike his last major libel case a couple of years ago that was hushed and settled out of court.
O'Reilly seems to bring it on himself, no matter who he is talking to or about. for the obvious reasons, i don't watch his show very often, but that's what i find entertaining about mr. o'.
so, what kind of women does the fake prince like? i really don't keep up with celebrity gossip, so i am out of the loop here.
this sounds like a real life version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. one of my favorite movies, btw.
Posted by: revenantive | March 17, 2007 at 11:26 PM
The Prince bought his title fair and square. Phantom, are you against capitalism and a man's right to better himself? ;)
Posted by: Hawise | March 18, 2007 at 12:01 AM
Hawise is right. All royalty is bogus. It's just a question of how recently you bought or killed for your title. Citizens of republics are left to ponder for themselves what citizens of constitutional monarchies have always known.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | March 18, 2007 at 12:06 AM
has there ever been a fair and balanced way to buy a princely title?
Posted by: revenantive | March 18, 2007 at 12:19 AM
Re .." the circle closes, as the media industrial complex comes back to bite itself in the ass.."-
Ah, yes.. & the circle of the upper & lower jaw closes on the juicy bits... "a wheel in a wheel, up next, in the middle, on the air.."
Re .."his taste in women is disgraceful.."-
I might agree, if he's been biting dead ones... ^..^
Posted by: herbert browne | March 18, 2007 at 03:29 AM
"All royalty is bogus."
Well, with the commencement of the Weimar constitution in 1919, nobility was abolished in Germany and "Prinz" or "Graf" or "Freifrau" or whatever isn't a title anymore but only part of one's surname. Therefore the correct name for former masseur Hans-Robert Lichtenberg is "Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt" and not "Prinz Frédéric blablabla" but that doesn't sound very impressive.
He's a real crazy guy, making a lot of money by selling the Anhalt name to other individuals and first of all playing with the media. As an example, he adopted Marcus Eberhardt, a previously convicted Munich brothel owner who is now "Markus Eberhard Edward Prinz von Anhalt, Herzog zu Sachsen und Westfalen, Graf von Askanien" with a bombastic homepage.
Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt sued Pfizer for becoming impotent after the use of Viagra, he sued American Airlines for possible brain damages and he likes to talk about his wife's little dog that bite his genitals, etc.
Seems that Bill O'Reilly fell into his trap...
Posted by: Axel | March 18, 2007 at 06:07 AM
O'Reilly, host of "The O'Reilly Factor," challenged Von Anhalt to take a lie detector test after he filed the paternity claim in mid-February. Von Anhalt initially accepted but later changed his mind when he learned how long the test would take, said Edward Lee, his attorney.
Why not just go with trial by ordeal? That one doesn't take very long. Or how about the pendulum test. If it swings around in circles, then he is the father. But if it swings back and forth, then he is Napoleon Bonaparte, the freaking emperor of France.
Posted by: 386sx | March 18, 2007 at 08:37 AM
And if there's anybody who knows a thing or two about being a fraud, it's Our Bill: hard-hitting journalist, moral compass to the nation, inveterate panty-sniffer.
Posted by: Uncle Kvetch | March 18, 2007 at 10:40 AM
--Seems that Bill O'Reilly fell into his trap...--
Maybe. But this could be good for both of them.
The fake prince gets publicity, and Fox News gets more tabloid fodder that can be useful when people tire of the Anna Nicole bullshit.
It got old for me the first time I heard of her, but evidently this is not a universal opinion.
Posted by: The Phantom | March 18, 2007 at 11:51 AM
The article made me read the comments too, just to see why this got posted.
Posted by: j a higginbotham | March 18, 2007 at 12:35 PM
Hmm... maybe this calls for a special edition of Sunday Deposed Monarch Blogging...
Posted by: Rob | March 18, 2007 at 02:14 PM
Lincoln used to tell the story of the settler who came home to his humble cabin and found his mother-in-law locked in single combat with a bear, Not wishing to choose sides in the battle, the man stood on the sidelines shouting, "Go it, old woman! Go it, bear!"
As between O'Reilly and Prince Freddie von Zsa Zsa, them's my sentiments exactly.
Posted by: Jim Tourtelott | March 18, 2007 at 03:46 PM
This is old news. Is "Prince" von Anhalt still suing Bill O'Reilly and FOX NEWS NETWORK? Had the charge drop? I saw the Prinz Germany website by Marc Eberhard from Herbert Browne and I agree with him that "All royalty is bogus". Eberhard's website is not too impressive because he is with alot of women. It looks disgraceful. It is on the photo gallery. This is sick. I think Eberhard should take his website down and I don't think no one is not interested in him and his stuffs. He should stay in Germany while Frederic stay in Bel Air, CA and taking care of wife at home. And Marc Eberhard is no related to Paris Hilton. Paris Hilton's great grandfather Conrad Hilton was Zsa Zsa's second husband and has a daughter named Francesca Hilton. It is stupid for Zsa Zsa's husband selling title and helped these young men become a "prince" and adopted them. They became famous and rich. It sounded like it is fraud. I feel so sorry for his wife Zsa Zsa Gabor. I guess von Anhalt is trying to make money buy him a fancy Rolls Royce and Bentley and keep Zsa Zsa up. von Anhalt really does love his wife. Prince Frederic goes to West Hollywood every day to the Starbuck's coffee shop and visited the "boys" and goes to the 24 Hrs. gym across the street from Starbuck's. About month ago, I watch Fox's On the Record with Greta and Frederic took Greta on a grand tour of Zsa Zsa's house in Bel Air,CA. The house is beautiful inside and I loved the outdoor patio.
Posted by: mary | May 20, 2007 at 05:32 PM