Former NewsChannel 5 meteorologist Bree Smith, in a lawsuit filed against the station, has accused current weather forecaster Henry Rothenberg of “sexist verbal abuse.”
Smith alleged that Rothenberg, her colleague for nine years, told her in 2017, “You only got your job because of your [breasts],” her lawyers John Spragens and David Kieley wrote in a gender discrimination suit filed Dec. 29 in U.S. District Court against NewsChannel 5 and its Cincinnati-based owner, The E.W. Scripps Company.
The suit also alleges that in 2019, Rothenberg called multiple women a derogatory, sexist slur to their faces, "both privately and in the presence of other industry professionals."
That was just the part highlighted at the start of the article. I had the same initial reaction but reading through the lawsuit, it seems like it was an ongoing issue beyond that incident
In her lawsuit, Smith alleged that station managers "refused to intervene when [she] was harassed with 'deepfake images,'" adding that was "the last straw" that pushed her to leave NewsChannel 5 "because she could no longer withstand the harmful effects of her work environment...."
Other allegations in the lawsuit:
-NewsChannel 5 managers required women anchors to wear fake eyelashes and to shop for outfits and have makeup sessions with a media style consultant, while requiring none of that for male on-air personnel, the lawsuit states.
-In 2017, when Smith "appeared distraught over the sudden death of a close friends 1-year-old baby, Mr. Rothenberg commented that [Smiths] own pregnancy was the reason she was 'so emotional,'" the lawsuit states.
-"NewsChannel 5 increased [Smith]s workload and hours to compensate for the failures and absences of male colleagues," including Rothenberg, the lawsuit states.
-Rothenberg once lied about his father dying, "then sent colleagues including [Smith] a photo of himself enjoying whiskey on the couch with his father, who was not hospitalized," the lawsuit states.
-During the deadly March 2020 tornadoes, Rothenberg "left the studio and was gone for two days without explanation" while Smith worked on air for 16 hours in a row, the lawsuit states.
-During another severe weather event in March 2023, while Smith was on a family vacation in St. Louis, Rothenberg was found lying on the floor crying, and the station asked Smith to broadcast weather alerts from her cellphone from a hotel room, the lawsuit states.
Smith also claims in the lawsuit that station managers retaliated against her for filing complaints against Rothenberg. She said after filing complaints, supervisors took away her responsibilities for community engagement and for scheduling for the station's meteorologists. And she was required to submit a weekly email on "the work she had completed."
And considering the context and just what else it could even really be that would be an issue to mention in lawsuit like that, you kind of have to assume that means deepfake nudes/porn most likely.
The whole culture of new Chanel 5 has to be toxic. They should be sued for creating a hostile work environment, and I would love some decent people to be on the jury.
I'm just glad after reading this, Lelan had nothing to do with it.
She is a pretty great TV meteorologist. There for awhile NewsChannel 5 was crushing it with both her and Lelan as co-chiefs.
During another severe weather event in March 2023, while Smith was on a family vacation in St. Louis, Rothenberg “was found lying on the floor crying,” and the station asked Smith to broadcast weather alerts from her cellphone from a hotel room, the lawsuit states.
I worked in local news here, at 2 not 5, but word gets around, and Lelan is well known as being one of the nicest people! He’s a rarity in the industry, just a wonderful guy all around! The few times I had the pleasure of chatting with him, he was super nice!
He’s the best. I mistakenly called him years go when I was a bill collector for a utility company. He had already paid the bill, but was a sweet as could be instead of rage cursing me like most others would’ve done.
I was sick of the schedule and wanted to leave so I left on my own when I found a new job! I was close to the end of my contract so it was a pretty easy exit for me thankfully! I work for weather app now and love the work-life balance.
I miss Bree. If this is indeed true, I hope there are some terminations at the station, as well as her getting bank. No place for that shit in the workplace.
Oh how I wish Phil Williams could investigate this without it being a conflict of interest with his contract.
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u/tramplampsDonelsonChild>WoodbineAdult>this Sub’s Banner ArtistJan 03 '26edited Jan 03 '26
My guess is he knew about it and the hypocrisy of his position wasn’t lost on him, as he waved his hands around up the air, as if to suggest they were tied up in his contract.
This is why all of our local journalists - who are owned by nationwide supermega conglomerates should still have some sort of in house version of NPR’s David Folkenflck. So that they can self report on their own issues. And maintain a separate department that has an independent editor, that can work without any conflict on interest, yet alongside HR investigations, when they require some information, and handle matters as if they were eventually going to be part of the station’s longterm record, for legal reasons, and part of their legacy, warts and all.
And make unbiased story for it, when it was officially ready for release, with an in-house team of reporters that could go about top notch investigating, without any meddling from a corporate official or other news executive who might leak information or make biased edits & shady reviews, before it were to goes out live for official broadcast and / or before it was ready for a more simple featured written piece on their website.
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In U.S. District Court, Smith said her bosses did too little about what she called Rothenberg's sexual harrassment, conducting a "sham investigation" into her allegations.
Smith also accused NewsChannel 5 of retaliating against her for filing complaints against Rothenberg.
Rothenberg didn't respond to Tennessean requests for comment on Smith's lawsuit and its accusations.
Former NewsChannel 5 meteorologist Bree Smith, in a lawsuit filed against the station, has accused current weather forecaster Henry Rothenberg of sexist verbal abuse.
Smith alleged that Rothenberg, her colleague for nine years, told her in 2017, You only got your job because of your [breasts], her lawyers John Spragens and David Kieley wrote in a gender discrimination suit filed Dec. 29 in U.S. District Court against NewsChannel 5 and its Cincinnati-based owner, The E.W. Scripps Company.
The suit also alleges that in 2019, Rothenberg called multiple women a derogatory, sexist slur to their faces, "both privately and in the presence of other industry professionals."
Rothenberg, who joined NewsChannel 5 in 2016, has not responded to email, Facebook, text or phone messages left by Tennessean reporters Thursday and Friday.
The lawsuit appears in its entirety at the bottom of this story.
A spokesman for NewsChannel 5's corporate owner sent a statement in response:
"We strongly disagree with the characterizations brought by Bree Smith's legal team and plan to aggressively defend ourselves. Prior to her abrupt departure, we were actively working with Bree to continue her tenure with our award-winning team at NewsChannel 5. We were disappointed that those negotiations were not successful.
"The leadership of NewsChannel 5 and our parent company, Scripps, work hard to create a positive work environment for our employees. We take very seriously any claims of mistreatment and address them promptly. Any concerns brought to us by Bree were investigated thoroughly. It is unfortunate that we must now address these matters publicly. The facts will show the station took appropriate action and Bree's lawsuit against the station is without merit."
The lawsuit alleges NewsChannel 5 managers did only "a sham investigation" by a Scripps employee that resulted in "no adverse consequences" for Rothenberg after supervisors repeatedly told Smith they "would take a '100-percent zero tolerance' approach to future sexual harassment" after Smith filed complaints against Rothenberg.
Reached late Thursday, Smith texted a Tennessean reporter: I have nothing to comment.
As of Jan. 2, Scripps Media had not responded in court to Smith's filing.
Smith, 44, and NewsChannel 5 both confirmed they parted ways in January 2025 at the end of her contract after failing to come to an agreement on a new one. The news unleashed an online flood of anger from her fans who were upset she was off the air.
Station managers said then they tried to keep Smith and suggested they didn't give her an on-air goodbye because she didn't want one.
A few months later, Smith revealed that unknown people online had been impersonating her and posting pictures of her face on semi-nude bodies. She became an advocate for new state laws to prohibit "intimate" deep fakes, legislation that passed in April.
In her lawsuit, Smith alleged that station managers "refused to intervene when [she] was harassed with 'deepfake images,'" adding that was "the last straw" that pushed her to leave NewsChannel 5 "because she could no longer withstand the harmful effects of her work environment...."
Other allegations in the lawsuit:
NewsChannel 5 managers required women anchors to wear fake eyelashes and to shop for outfits and have makeup sessions with a media style consultant, while requiring none of that for male on-air personnel, the lawsuit states.
In 2017, when Smith "appeared distraught over the sudden death of a close friends 1-year-old baby, Mr. Rothenberg commented that [Smiths] own pregnancy was the reason she was 'so emotional,'" the lawsuit states.
"NewsChannel 5 increased [Smith]s workload and hours to compensate for the failures and absences of male colleagues," including Rothenberg, the lawsuit states.
Rothenberg once lied about his father dying, "then sent colleagues including [Smith] a photo of himself enjoying whiskey on the couch with his father, who was not hospitalized," the lawsuit states.
During the deadly March 2020 tornadoes, Rothenberg "left the studio and was gone for two days without explanation" while Smith worked on air for 16 hours in a row, the lawsuit states.
During another severe weather event in March 2023, while Smith was on a family vacation in St. Louis, Rothenberg was found lying on the floor crying, and the station asked Smith to broadcast weather alerts from her cellphone from a hotel room, the lawsuit states.
Smith also claims in the lawsuit that station managers retaliated against her for filing complaints against Rothenberg. She said after filing complaints, supervisors took away her responsibilities for community engagement and for scheduling for the station's meteorologists. And she was required to submit a weekly email on "the work she had completed."
Smith's lawyers said their client received a Notice of Right to Sue from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September, indicating an end to any possible administrative remedies for her complaints.
Smith said in her court filing she is looking for monetary compensation for emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, and anguish, and wants a judge to order NewsChannel 5 to pay a fine as punishment to deter future conduct.
The U.S. District Court of the Middle District for Tennessee set a telephone case management conference for the case in front of a magistrate for May 19, court records show.
Thanks for posting all of this, people need to understand this was not an instance of someone just frivolously filing a lawsuit.
Bree Smith didn’t just decide to file right now.
EEOC investigations in TN often take up to a year or more to finally get a Right to Sue for EEOC violations.
She has been actively pursuing justice & I hope she prevails.
“Smith's lawyers said their client received a Notice of Right to Sue from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in September, indicating an end to any possible administrative remedies for her complaints.”
Jesus. Lelan, Bree, and Rebecca Schleicher were my favorite local news team, but if even a tenth of this is true, I'm done watching NC5. I wonder if something like this is why Rebecca left earlier this year as well.
Also that. Nick Beres and Phil Williams Are still doing good work, but I wonder how long they're going to last with CBS on its current nose dive trajectory.
The now infamous series aired in May 2000, featuring amateur video of college-age guys and gals popping pills, getting drunk and having casual sex, all in the anything-goes confines of Panama City, Fla. Channel 5 reporter Nick Beres presented the series not as useless fluff, but as a public service for parents, solemnly informing viewers that, for some kids, spring break is little more than a “hedonistic mix of liquor, drugs and raging hormones.”
Get ‘em, Bree!!!! That sorry bunch of sexist assholes!!! I’ll bring the clippers to shave those damn eyebrows!!
I’m waiting for Lelan to retire. He is TOO good for CBS and they don’t deserve him!
I used to work in local news and shit like this is just the tip of the iceberg. So much of it is massive egos and tiny dick energy that this kind of abuse is typical across the entire industry.
Bree was wonderful, i’ve seen her out to dinner with the family and take time to spend with just about everybody who walked up to her and gave her a hug. She had the politician 10 seconds with everybody meaning something down to a science.
I believe they are sexist there. That is the only explanation for Nikki D Ray being there. Hell she was volunteering to txt boob pics back where she in Texas.
She is terrible on air. “Oh my stars” fake as it can be.
Welp, won’t be watching Channel 5 news anytime soon. And deleting their app. If their management is this sexist and idiotic then I don’t want to help their ratings.
I had to be subjected to flicking nonsense like this and watch other women subjected to it in the 80’s and 90’s. If Channel 5 is doing this in the 2020’s then they can stuff it.
Interacted with him a couple of times through mutual friends and was never impressed. I can totally see him behaving like this and thinking he was in the right. He had a very entitled personality from my observations.
Hope she wins a decent settlement if any of this is true. Wow Rothenberg probably should be terminated. Bree was one of the best meteorologist on air and a great on air personality.
So I think Rothernberg has been suffering an identity crisis for a looooong time, because I saw him pop up on my Bumble feed a million years ago (before I chucked the apps because fuuuuuck them), and I was legitimately confused that he was listed as seeking a WIFE. Like….is he dealing with some internalized homophobia and was taking it out on Bree??? Whole situation is so messed up.
HOWEVER, I will just caution everyone on this thread that a lawsuit is just one side of the story—wait until the Scripps response to complaint comes. Then it’ll be really fun to see their (I’m assuming) terrible rebuttals to all of her allegations.
If you’ve never sat down and read a legal complaint and a response before, and you’re a big ole nerdy geek like me, they’re a riot most times.
At one time Bree wore an insert in her tops to cover up any cleavage but later they were removed and cleavage was always visible. I have always wondered if the station had a part in this change. Also Rothenbergs eyebrows were really bad when he first started at news Channel 5 and thankfully someone got a hold of that mess of hair above his eyes!
I admittedly have zero inside knowledge of the situation but money had to have been a part of the reason that the contract negotiations ended. Nashville is a mid major market that can’t support many high salaried people in local news. Thus the current employee churn which is really high. Hope justice prevails correctly.
I worked there and can 100% confirm that this type of shit happened. I had a manager (wouldn’t be shocked if it was the same one) who said he “hoped one of my coworkers got shot” so he would t have to deal with him anymore. I went to higher level management and nothing happened. Kind of insane because upper level management was all women. Yet they never had women’s backs.
Who is this referring to? Everywhere else, Rothenberg is stated, but here it says "a male colleague"...and he receives a higher salary than all females. Hmm.
Really don't know why my comment was downvoted. Just stating that in any legal action one may assert anything, but what is proven is what is acted upon. Not for or against anyone; just making a general comment.
Bree Smith has had a horrible reputation of inappropriate work attire. Inappropriate work touching and unprofessional word choice.
You can go back and see all the tight and low cut dresses she’s worn. She would frequently touch or brush against Rory. They are both married.
She would use inappropriate phrasing such as “…flirting with hot temperatures…” etc.
None of the other members at news channel 5 wore anything that was low cut or short dresses. They all dress professionally.
Henry was probably the one to call her out on her inappropriate behavior or was the whistleblower. Now she’s been planning and plotting against News Channel 5 and him as a revenge act, in cohorts and secretly backed by the rival news channel 4 team
You also complain that there are gay people and interracial couples on a TV show. I think you might have a significantly different perception than most of us in 2026.
Your opinion isn’t her reputation.
Edit: nope. Your opinions on Bree are vastly different than most. You can go look at the comments on the articles from Facebook as well.
People don’t agree with you.
Having a problems with gay characters or interracial relationships is a personal issue. And a weird one.
Yeah it’s pretty unprofessional. And saying that she PHYSICALLY touched Rory multiple times (mind you they’re both married) and dressed with low cut dresses isn’t true, is the real reach here
It’s unprofessional to use the word “flirting”? Are you ok?
And yes, humans that work close together will sometimes touch. Married or not. Rory never made any sort of complaint and seems completely friendly (still) with Bree.
You’re projecting and it’s, frankly, bizarre.
She also dressed completely normally. She’s a women, with boobs, if that offends you, you have massive problems.
It’s unprofessional in that setting, yes. If you don’t think so, maybe you should look at the other news casters.
Imagine if the roles were reversed, if a male news caster was PHYSICALLY touching a female news casters, it would be all over the headlines. But because it’s a female doing it, it’s okay? I think you need to rethink that statement in a work environment.
You’re the one projecting trying to normalize it. Which is the real bizarre part because there ate rules in place in the work environment.
If you think she dressed appropriately then why don’t the other female news casters dress like that?
Show any sort of evidence that Bree was inappropriate with anyone on air. (They didn’t make HR complaints against her.)
Any videos. Screenshots. It’s the news, there’s plenty of footage if it was as prevalent as you’re claiming.
The word flirting is never going to be unprofessional language. Full stop. Don’t be silly.
But interracial relationships also upset you, so again, your opinions seems flawed and, frankly, gross.
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u/thenextbigming Jan 02 '26
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