Jennifer Shepard-Brookman, who worked as producer and senior producer of 'The View' from 2001 to 2015, accuses Rosie of making false and defamatory statements about her.
- Oct 17, 2015
AceShowbiz - Rosie O'Donnell is being sued for defamation by ex-producer of "The View" Jennifer Shepard-Brookman. Jennifer claimed in a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court on Thursday, October 15 that Rosie made false and defamatory statements about her.
Jennifer, who worked as producer and senior producer of "The View" from 2001 to 2015, alleged Rosie falsely accused her of betraying professional and personal confidences and leaking information to the media. She said Rosie "was solely motivated by and exhibited personal spite and ill will" against her.
According to the lawsuit, Rosie attempted to assert control of "The View" after returning to the show last year, clashed with Whoopi Goldberg and sought to take coverage of news stories away from her. During a meeting in September 2014, Rosie allegedly "intimidated" Jennifer by "screaming" over a story about the ISIS beheading of journalist James Foley which was being assigned to Whoopi and not her.
Rosie "accused Ms. Brookman of teaming with Ms. Goldberg to undermine Ms. O'Donnell," the lawsuit stated. The suit also claimed during a meeting with exec producers William Wolff and Brian Balthazar in January 2015, Rosie accused Jennifer of leaking sensitive information to the media.
"Ms. Brookman brings this claim to hold Ms. O'Donnell accountable for her malicious conduct in making false and defamatory statements of fact about Ms. Brookman to others in their workplace, which caused Ms. Brookman to suffer intense emotional distress, anxiety, and lack of sleep, destroyed her professional reputation, and led to her termination of employment," the suit said. Jennifer is seeking unspecified damages.
Rosie's lawyer Nicolle Jacoby commented on Jennifer's suit, "The allegations that have been made by Jennifer Brookman against Rosie O'Donnell are baseless and Ms. O'Donnell will defend herself vigorously in court." ABC has not commented on the issue yet.
