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Some people think living well is the best revenge. Others prefer a full-size billboard in the middle of Times Square.

Mysterious ads featuring Charles Phillips, co-president of the software giant Oracle, and a woman who is not his wife recently caused an uproar after they appeared at some of the busiest intersections in New York.

The billboards were removed after only a few days, but it wasn't clear why they'd been pulled. It may have been the billboard company itself -- scared of being an unwitting accomplice in one-woman's supersized revenge scheme:

"If you're going to put something up there that might be defamatory, the billboard company would also have some vulnerability," says Murray Schwartz, managing partner at Schwartz and Perry in New York City. "You making that available to someone else can make you responsible as well."

And this is already one messy love triangle.


The ads directed viewers to a Web site that featured photos of Charles with YaVaughnie Wilkins, the woman with whom he had a lengthy affair before allegedly reconciling with his wife, as reported on Gawker and OHellNawl. The site, which crashed earlier in the day, ostensibly due to high traffic, also features numerous scans of love notes he wrote her and cards he had sent with floral arrangements.

Phillips admitted having the affair to NBC, but also noted that divorce proceedings with his wife Karen began in 2008. He added that his relationship with Wilkins "has since ended, and we both wish each other well."

But tipsters over at Gawker quickly took to the comment boards to express their doubts over both claims, going so far as to say that Phillips had been presenting himself as single for years now, and that Wilkins may not have known Phillips was married until he reconciled with his wife.

It's believed that Wilkins, who has not spoken to news outlets, is behind the ads and the site, which showcases photos of the couple on vacation, kissing and snuggling around the globe. Each album is set to one of their karaoke performances.

A particularly nice touch? The site also features notes Phillips had written, begging Wilkins to stick around over the course of their romance. According to Gawker, the couple was still together as recently as November, when New York Social Diary posted a photo of them at the American Museum of Natural History gala in the city. Phillips' relationship with Wilkins dates back as far as 2001, according to the Web evidence now available to prying eyes. That's some well-aged resentment.

Perhaps most startling are the photos of a topless Wilkins, as well as photos of the couple with a young boy -- possibly (and in that case, disturbingly) Phillips' 10-year-old son.

Though she has yet to go on the record, we think the point is pretty clear: Wilkins has literally become the poster girl for The Other Woman. And now we find ourselves torn -- we can't exactly condone this erratic behavior, but we also can't look away. There are so many questions to be asked; notably, whether it's possible that YaVaughnie dated a fairly public figure and had no clue that he was married with a child.

For those of us who have ever discovered that we weren't the only woman in a guy's life, such behavior definitely elicits a delightful sense of "you get him, girl" camaraderie. But a billboard in Times Square? Seems a little excessive. Besides -- how could she possibly afford this? We're guessing a book deal and film rights are already in the works.

What do you think: crazy lady or creative comeuppance?

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