Look Who's Back in the Newsroom in Miami
Back in September, FTVLive wrote that "South Florida viewers have not seen WFOR Investigative Reporter Michele Gillen on the air for months and many are wondering where she is? The same can be said for those working in the WFOR newsroom."
This week, Gillen showed back up in the WFOR newsroom acting like nothing ever happened.
It's the first time Gillen has been seen in the newsroom since a public blowout between her and fellow investigative newsman Jim DeFede.
Gossip Extra reports that Gillen walked in Monday like she hadn’t missed one third of the work year, sat down at her desk six cubicles away from DeFede and started making calls for a story about Pope Francis‘ upcoming trip to the United States.
“It’s like she never left,” one source said. “Nobody’s talking about it. Nobody’s talking to her. And she’s not talking to anybody.”
Gillen walked out in mid-July after a nasty tongue-lashing about her work ethics from DeFede.
“At one point (during a meeting), Jim went on a rant about the lack of productivity from the investigative team,” a newsroom dweller told me at the time. “He said something about being worried the station will do away with the team.
“Then he went off on Michele and (reporter) Brian Andrews and told them that they’re not on the air often enough and don’t pull their own weight.”
What started out as a professional conversation degenerated into a shouting match, and Gillen eventually accused her colleagues of creating a hostile work environment and left.
Gillen’s contract is up at the end of the year.