Former Fox News personality Andrea Tantaros is suing commentator Nomiki Konst and Fox News public relations executive Irena Briganti, over a tweet Konst posted on Tuesday night. In the wake of Bill O’Reilly‘s departure from the network, Konst, who has appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor” in the past, tweeted the following:
Remember that time Bill O’Reilly kicked me off a weekly spot on his show after Andrea Tantaros physically attacked me & threatened me? I do!
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) April 19, 2017
Tantaros has since responded in the form of a lawsuit, that her attorney filed in New York Supreme Court that same day. The complaint, obtained by LawNewz.com, says that the allegation that Tantaros attacked Konst is false, and is looking for monetary damages for defamation.
So where does Briganti fit in to all this? Tantaros alleges that Briganti directed Konst to post the tweet in order to make Tantaros look bad in anticipation of a separate “imminent lawsuit” from Tantaros against Disruptor, Inc. and Peter A. Snyder. Tantaros claims that in that situation, Snyder and Disruptor were behind “a disgraceful social media campaign for Fox News against Tantaros,” including the use of fake “sock puppet” accounts, at the behest of Fox News president Bill Shine.
In the new complaint, Tantaros alleges that her counsel contacted Snyder’s lawyer on April 18, saying that a lawsuit would be filed against him on April 19 or 20. That night, Konst posted her tweet, about an incident that Tantaros claims is false, but even if true, would have had to have taken place more than a year ago, because Tantaros hasn’t been to Fox News’ offices since she last appeared on the channel in April 2016.
Tantaros claims that as soon as Snyder learned about the pending litigation against him, he contacted Fox News, which resulted in Briganti giving Konst her instructions.
Briganti denies having anything to do with Konst’s tweet. In a statement sent to LawNewz.com through her attorneys, Briganti said:
I had nothing whatsoever to do with Ms. Konst’s decision to publish a tweet about her views on Bill O’Reilly, in which she mentioned Andrea Tantaros. I have never even met or spoken with Ms. Konst.
Snyder’s attorney, Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn, told LawNewz that Snyder has no connection to this matter. In a statement, Mastro said:
This lawsuit has nothing to do with Pete Snyder, who hasn’t worked for Fox News since 2012, other than as an on-air contributor. The allegations about Mr. Snyder are false, and included for no other purpose than to try to pressure him into a settlement, as the pleading admits. It’s a sham and a shakedown, which we won’t fall for. So whatever Ms. Tantaros’ claims against Fox, she should leave Pete Snyder out of it.
LawNewz has reached out to Ms. Konst.
This article has been updated with a statement from Peter Snyder’s attorney.
