My goodness! Jennifer Aniston sure started a f-cked up firestorm when she made some relatively innocuous comments about her new film, The Switch. The plotline of The Switch (a woman impregnates self with a turkey baster, only she doesn’t know the sperm came from her best friend, Jason Bateman) ensured that Aniston got about a million questions about single motherhood and turkey basters and pregnancy and BABIES during her press day. Jennifer comments were pretty general, and she basically stated that single mothers are fine and that women don’t have to “settle” with a dude just because they want to have a baby.
Then, two nights ago, Bill O’Reilly attacked Jennifer for leaving fathers feeling underappreciated and undervalued in society, and that she was too rich to know about the real struggles, etc. He said she was “destructive to society.” While I found a couple of his points to be on-target, the gist of his discussion basically boiled down to a promotion of the nuclear family, which is bullsh-t, in my opinion. Anyway…
So you know that O’Reilly’s self-appointed nemesis Keith Olbermann couldn’t let Bill-O attack Aniston’s honor that way. Except that Keith doesn’t really give a hoot about Aniston, he just wanted to attack O’Reilly. And attack he did, and it was kind of below the belt. Keith named O’Reilly one of “the worst people in the world” and said: “There’s been a lot of amateur psychoanalysis about what O’Reilly is doing this time. If you read Marvin Kitman’s biography of O’Reilly, it’s pretty simple. Virtually every reference O’Reilly makes to his own father describes how the man hit, slapped, punched him. As Ktman put it simply, ‘O’Reilly has a history of physical abuse from his father.’ It is actually very sad.” Here’s the video (the O’Reilly part starts around the 37 second mark:
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Ouch. This is one of the reasons I don’t watch Keith so much anymore. He really goes after people on a personal level. And, if O’Reilly’s father did hit him, I don’t get how that is directly affecting O’Reilly’s comments about Aniston, I really don’t.
Aniston in London on July 21, 2010. Credit: WENN.
If Olber. was goung to go there it would have made more sense to say that O’Reilly’s father hit him so he should know that sometimes the kids are better off only living with one parent.
Oh my, seems Jen started a brouhaha, didn’t she? And with two of the most reviled men on cable news channels. At least O’Reilly lets people with differing opinions on his show. That Olbermann moron won’t let anybody on his show unless they agree with him.
I agree Kaiser. Keith is hitting below the belt. Unless O’Reilly is arguing that having an abusive father is better than being raised by a single mom, there’s no point in bring up his family problems. Still doesn’t negate all of the O’Reilly’s points, so Keith sounds like a brash fool. (This coming from a Leftie. Though I left Olbermann for Rachel Maddow 🙂 )
Olber’s so filled with hate and rage, he can’t think straight.
Wonder what the underlying causes of his condition are. Maybe just hormonal.
Rachel Maddow RULES! 🙂
What Iggles said. ITA.
Iggles – Yes, I almost always skip K.O. these days, but I watch Maddow all the time. MADDOW RULEZ.
I can’t stand anyone of these news reporters/journalists, or whatever they’re called. One bashes the other to get more ratings for their network. They all suck.
My amateur psychoanalysis:
O’Reilly subconsciously yearns for the idealized daddy he never had…Awww..
It is below the belt I suppose to go at Bill’s personal relationship history but these guys go below the belt regularly so it’s not really new territory.
It’s not like Olb. dug out the information himself and outed Bill in some way, it’s public knowledge and been revealed already so it’s kind of fair game imo.
I agree with Kaiser that it’s turned into O’Reilly’s platform for the nuclear family and now add to that Olbermann’s platform to hammer O’Reilly so these guys are just using Jen to get their own agenda’s across.
Same old same old..
I think Maddow’s show would be more interesting if she’d bring on guests with opposing points of view who could calmly debate issues with her.
As it is, Maddow and her guests are all in fairly smug agreement about just about everything.
LOL This makes me giggle. Two supposedly smart people both took someone’s statement out of content and ran with it. Now they both just look stupid. Bill was stupid because he clearly doesn’t know the plot of the film, this movie isn’t even being marketed for teens, and all he did was make this aware to teens inadvertently putting the idea out there to teens about single parent hood.
Keith must be smoking crack because his counter-attack made zero sense and I can’t imagine what his point is with that statement. It was just childish and way to mean.
To be fair, I think that BO was talking about people who seek to become mothers without the fathers from jumpstreet, not all of singlemotherhood. Just had to put that out there because I see a lot of media outlets as saying that BO attacks the entire concept of single-motherhood.
I find KO’s “Worst (worser, etc.) person in the world” segment to be incredibly childish. Pinheads and Patriots is almost as bad
There are a couple of things wrong with what has been said here. First of all the title of the story “father hating Bill O’Reilly” is incredibly misleading as Celebitchy later, acurately goes on to explain that Bill, in fact, is entirely IN FAVOR of fathers being in their children’s lives (as he should be).
Later Celebitchy states that the “promotion of the nuclear family” is “bullsh-t” which, really?? Who’s hating on dads now?? As someone who loves her father to pieces and had the benenfit of his love and presence my entire life, I find “dads/moms are irrelevent” attitudes insulting and offensive.
I don’t understand why it has to always boil down to bashing those who choose to go the traditional route when discussing non-traditional families.
Olberman gives liberals(like me) a bad name I am not a fan of O’Reilly but he really wasn’t nasty just stating an opinion. And if he was abused that is something that needs to stay out of any public debate.
I just hope this doesn’t transelate it sales. I’m hoping that if this movie flops too; we’ll se less of her.
Hee at Eden’s amateur psychoanalysis. I think that is actually what the point is. Bill O’Reilly might be obsessive about the “nuclear family” (quite ironically named considering they usually break apart) because his own family life was kinda messed up as he was growing up.
Now he has to attack anyone and anything that sheds light onto just how messed up a “normal” family can be and that people can be happier without it. Maybe he wishes he was born in a later time when his mother wouldn’t have had to have stayed with a drunken, abusive person.
That’s why Olbermann brought it up.
But I gotta say, I have a super woman-boner for Rachel Maddow. She rocks my political world.
Jennifer Aniston may not be the greatest actress but she is a genius when it comes to staying in the news…how long ago did Friends end???
@Hamm is my dream man
Wow..you picked it up and ran with it sister..awesome post.
@Patrice
I too am a product of an intact nuclear family and adore and am grateful for my father and his presence in my life.
I think I understand your point about the reverse bashing that happens so some can justify their choices..that said…
It’s all good and fortunate if it comes from the original seed but if not, love is love.
I think that it’s important for children to have adults of both sexes to identify with and learn from and whether it comes from a stepfather, uncle, teacher, brother, family friend etc..it all does become “nuclear” in essence to the person being loved.
I don’t know why you cut the vid off right after “physical abuse from his father,” he was clearly continuing on to make some point…now I just wish I knew what it was and wonder why you cut it!
I agree it’s a crappy thing to do on TV but you should at least let the segment finish, they only last seconds and that’s kind of an annoying place to cut
“it’s turned into O’Reilly’s platform for the nuclear family and now add to that Olbermann’s platform to hammer O’Reilly so these guys are just using Jen to get their own agenda’s across.”
totally agree with you/Kaiser on this, too.
I grew up with out a father and I cant even begin to tell you how much Ive wanted one. I mean, seriously, I guess the phenomenon of single mothers is so high now that no one bats an eyelash over it, but I still always thought my life could have taken a dramatic turn if I had a father figure in it. Especially my brother , like the time he participated in the Junior Golden Gloves(boxing for kids) and all the other boys were being prepped talked by their fathers in the dressing room and all he had were his sisters with him. As much as feminist women try to say they dont need a father to help raise their children- trust me- yes they do.
And by the way, I cant stand Maddow. That woman always got on my last nerve when I tried to watch a show about a topic she was covering. I used to watch Olberman all the time but lately I could take opinions or leave it. His show had lost some of its luster for me..
this story has all the social relevance of the macarena.
Jon Stewart is the only “newscaster” for me- all of these blowhards that scream to hear the sound of their own cackle are SO over and done with.
isn’t this all a little bit…murphy brown?
It just amazes me that anyone cares enough about JA that she would cause this kind of uproar in the news.
I agree with others who point out that the title of this post is completely and utterly misleading. BO is the opposite (and making the opposite point in his position “against” Anniston) of being a “father-hater”. He is a father-supporter. As a long-term and constant Celebitchy reader, I do not like it when teaser titles state the opposite of the truth. “Misleading” does not even adequately describe the extent of how wrong it is to do this. Even though this is not exactly journalism, I am sure there is some ‘professional’ or ethical obligation to not just make things up to get more clicks?
JA was never saying fathers were irrelevant. she was making the point that you don’t have to settle down with someone (a.k.a. mr.-right-now)9 to have a baby. You can now have one on your own and continue looking for mr. right. what’s wrong with that?
i come from a broken home and I love my parents ti pieces, but i have a friend raised by a mother only, and she says she didn’t miss having a father. nuclear families aren’t the only way to do things anymore. I think JA was completely on the mark-and once again O’Rielly twisted things to suit his purposes. I’ve watched him and see it happen all the time-out of context bites are easy for him to play with.
Oreilly is using the chick for ratings. Olberman loves to beat up Oreilly that’s all. Deservingly so. After the election I don’t pay attention to CNN as much, they are the ones I watch though alongvwith. Stewart and colbert. Maher too.
Sad. The one point I agree with Bill O’Reilly on and my side of the aisle goes beserk. Olbermann, I hung in there for a while, even with all the other goofy things you did, but you’re officially off my 8 o’clock lineup. I’m so done with MSNBC.
they are both self-involved pricks
this coming from a liberal that can sometimes stomach KO…
and then they wonder why many my age would rather get on the internet or watch a daily show or colbert report…
she didnt start the firestorm, bill o’dumbass did.
and i CANNOT STAND bill, but there were plenty of ways KO could have handed bill his arse for his idiotic comments on aniston w/o going where he did. both of them are morons. actually, all three!
Olbermann failed miserably and should go the way of Lou Dobbs. Adios, Keith.
This IVF stuff reminds me of the movie Wall-E where babies are manufactured. I get it, childless couples, gay relationships, all that. But why is it such a bad thing to want the ideal of a mom and dad raising a child together? When did the “standard” practice all of a sudden become the reviled one by those who choose alternative routes?
susan I don’t get where people are saying the standard practice is revolting? I think being supportive of alternative routes doesn’t automatically mean that people are being revulsed by traditional routes.
The widely understood context of Aniston’s remarks is that if a woman really wants to be a mother, she doesn’t have to give up that dream just because she hasn’t found the man to go along with it. That there is nothing wrong with alternative routes if that is where you are in your life. That’s all.
I think those who have the traditional and happy household are very lucky. But just because the household is traditional doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy and therefore beneficial.
Jennifer Aniston needs to be told to never make that face again. It just doesn’t work with what God gave her.
Susan – I agree. The disdain for “traditional” families is ridiculous.
I get it — plenty of traditional families have been unhealthy and there are other ways of living your life, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater! Not all are oppressive and unhealthy. Traditional family units have been around for hundreds of years and communities that are family focused tend to be more stable and have stronger bonds (protection for women, children, the elderly; economic support system; etc).
I’m a city girl. It caters to the individual which is great (as a single 25 y/o there’s lots to do), but it’s also can be way more socially isolating than a small town where people neighbors actually know each other. In the city there’s so many people, so you usually don’t talk to strangers because you don’t know who’s a psycho (example, the subway is a no-talk zone).
@Leek. haha–I agree. The “I’m SO cute, kissy faces” are pretty embarrasing. It’s only cute for young kids.
As for the controversy, this is probably her wet dream. She’s being talked about in the presses, and boy, does she love the attention.
Good lord, this movie is going to be dumber than s**t.
Nothing like free press for a movie that is coming out eh.
That’s a kissy face? I thought she was trying to suck something off her teeth.
Anyway, I’m glad to see she’s not botoxed up and her skin up close looks more like a normal 41 year old. Not perfect and needs a bit of make-up. KWIM?
Honestly? If there’s any backlash against the “traditional family,” it’s because of the bull the nuthead conservatives are spouting that kids need a man and a woman to bring them up to be healthy individuals.
But two wrongs don’t make a right. People need to see that.
In this case, Olbermann sinks to O’Riley’s level. There’s a reason why I don’t watch either of them. LOL.