Associated Incidents
Popular meteorologist Bree Smith's emotional testimony Wednesday about being a victim of sexually charged AI deepfake videos highlights the challenges she and her employer at the time had in getting them removed.
"When I asked my employer for help, I was told that nothing could be done, it was not illegal and I had no recourse," Smith told the state House Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
"I felt humiliated and scared. I didn't know what to do or how to fight it, and I didn't know how to protect the viewers and the people that trusted me online from being subject to this kind of extortion."
NewsChannel 5 station manager Richard Eller said in a statement to The Tennessean that WTVF "wholeheartedly" shares Smith's frustrations and tried hard to stop impostors, to no avail.
"We did everything in our power to help her, seeking expert advice to make sure we were doing all we could," Eller wrote.
"We exhausted our options with the social media platforms to try to get them to take action, reported the situation to Metro Police, and launched an investigation through our corporate security team. Nothing worked."
In her testimony, Smith said the people who created the fake images and videos were using them to try to convince Smith's fans to send them money.
In one case, Smith testified, a viewer received a few fake videos where it appeared Smith "promised many sexual acts and asked the viewer to send them money to book a two-night stay at the Conrad Hotel."
"Personally, it has been very degrading and it plummeted me into a very dark depression," Smith testified. "Having my face, my reputation and my identity distorted into something so vile and vulnerable traumatized me and my family.
Smith and NewsChannel 5 parted ways in January after nine years. Smith said she left after her contract ended but said nothing about whether the station attempted to renew her contract or if there were negotiations.
NewsChannel 5 said at the time that managers "actively" worked to sign her to a new deal.
Smith's lawyer, John Spragens, didn't directly respond to a question asking whether the station's handling of the deepfake images and video had anything to do with her departure from NewsChannel 5. But he did refer to "ongoing" talks with station management.
"[Smith] is focused on getting a law enacted to protect people from these types of violations of privacy and trust," Spragens said in a text message to The Tennessean.
"We won't have any comment about her departure from NewsChannel 5 while discussions with the station and its parent company are ongoing."
Since she left NewsChannel 5, Smith has continued to regularly post online --- on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X --- about the weather and about her life as a mom, wife and bird watcher.
Each post regularly gets thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.
Smith, 43, said in her testimony that she hopes to continue being a meteorologist in the Nashville market.