A former Detroit television anchor was caught on video blasting her boss as a “bitch” during a tense newsroom confrontation that has now become a central piece of a legal battle over her firing.
Taryn Asher, a longtime anchor at WJBK-TV Fox 2 Detroit, was recording a public service announcement when the exchange unfolded.
Asher was pulled from the air in November and is now suing the station for sex discrimination and retaliation. Fox says her removal followed what it described as “unprofessional workplace behavior” and “outbursts.”
The video, first highlighted by FTVLive and Deadline Detroit, shows Asher arguing over scripts and newsroom workflow as she prepared to go on camera.
“I am. I’m in Amy’s script, the Amy’s Angels one,” Asher says.
“There was—the second thing didn’t make sense, so I was just trying to fix that part and…”
“I know, but I didn’t have time because we have to do this, so I was still reading it,” she continues.
Asher then complained about having to wait for scripts to be reviewed while she was getting ready for the broadcast.
“See, I mean, I can’t wait for you to go through them all and then I go through them, because then I’m already getting ready by then,” she says.
“But this time we had to do the PSAs, so…”
The exchange then turned personal.
“I don’t think you are. You’re walking out really angry,” Asher says.
“Bitch.”
Moments later, the longtime anchor grew even more frustrated.
“Can I please finish what I’m going to say?”
“What the f–k. Grow up.”
She then vented about the colleague involved in the dispute.
“I’m so done with her antics, telling on me every five seconds. I’m done.”
The footage surfaced as Fox pushes back against Asher’s claims that she was punished because of her sex and because she complained about unequal treatment.
In an Aug. 14 court filing, Fox said multiple employees had complained about Asher’s conduct during the week before she was placed on paid leave Nov. 5.
The station alleged she shouted at employees over guest interview assignments, repeatedly used profanity toward coworkers and engaged in “confrontational and disrespectful interactions” with staff.
Fox also accused Asher of confronting an employee she believed had complained about her to management.
The station disputed her account of a separate fight over guest interviews and said she frequently failed to attend editorial meetings where assignments were discussed despite being encouraged to participate.
Fox cited an Oct. 30 incident in which Asher allegedly believed her male co-anchor, Roop Raj, had been given an interview she had booked.
According to the station, the interview had actually been assigned to Asher, but she later spoke in a raised voice and at times shouted at two colleagues over the confusion.
Tensions allegedly erupted again during election coverage Nov. 4.
Fox acknowledged that producers initially assigned Raj guest interviews during both the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts, but said those decisions were made independently and without coordination.
One interview was later reassigned to Asher, according to the station.
Fox said Asher then confronted Raj and accused him of receiving preferential treatment.
Asher told Raj words to the effect of, “You don’t own politics,” according to Fox’s filing.
The next day, the station placed her on paid leave while management investigated complaints about her behavior.
Fox said Raj also spoke with human resources and said he believed Asher was “jealous” of him and appeared to have an issue with “men versus women.”
After the investigation, Fox said management informed Asher on Nov. 21 that she would not return because of her “repeated outbursts in the newsroom and multiple instances of unprofessional conduct with her colleagues.”
Asher denies that she engaged in misconduct severe enough to justify discipline or termination.
Her lawsuit claims Fox retaliated against her after she complained about sex discrimination and treated male employees accused of misconduct more leniently.
Fox disputes those allegations.
Asher is suing Fox Television Stations and New World Communications of Detroit, the owner and operator of WJBK-TV, under federal and Michigan civil rights laws.
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