A Fired News Anchor's Old Newsroom Meltdown Just Went Viral, and the Timing Isn't a Coincidence

A four-year-old behind-the-scenes clip of former Fox 2 Detroit anchor Taryn Asher cursing out a coworker has suddenly gone massively viral, racking up more than 28.8 million views on X within days. The clip itself is old. The reason it's everywhere right now is not.

The 1-minute-11-second video shows Asher, then a longtime evening anchor at WJBK (Channel 2, Fox's Detroit affiliate), during the taping of a promo at the Southfield station in 2022. A colleague off-camera interrupts to ask about a script; the exchange turns tense, the colleague walks out before Asher finishes speaking, and Asher calls her a "b----" under her breath, adding she's "so done with her antics." The footage was first posted by Deadline Detroit on August 15 and exploded after TMZ shared it on August 18, according to The Detroit News and Mediaite.

Fox 2 fired Asher, 51, in November. She filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the station in June, alleging she was treated worse than male co-anchor Roop Raj and that management terminated her after she complained. That's her claim, not an established fact. Fox 2, for its part, has responded to the lawsuit by saying Asher was rightfully let go over "unprofessional workplace behavior" and "outbursts" — also the station's claim, not a court finding. The video surfaced publicly at essentially the same moment as that response, according to The Detroit News and thedesk.net, which is why so much of the coverage frames the leak less as a random resurfacing and more as a pointed piece of ammunition in an active legal fight. IF Daily has not independently confirmed who leaked the footage or when Fox 2 or its representatives first obtained it.

Reaction has been split between mockery and sympathy. Podcaster Bill Simmons posted on X that he'd "watched this 10 times," while plenty of commenters joked Asher should get cast on a Real Housewives franchise. But not everyone piled on: former Jezebel writer Ashley Reese wrote, "I don't even have the full context but I'm kinda on her side lol," a sentiment echoed across a number of replies that questioned why a four-year-old off-air outburst was being resurfaced now, right in the middle of a discrimination case.

Asher's discrimination lawsuit against Fox 2 remains active, and no trial date has been publicly reported. Whether the newly surfaced video ends up cited as evidence in the case, or simply fades as the next viral clip takes over timelines, is still unknown. IF Daily will update this story if either side files new claims or the case reaches a resolution.