The Very Public Self-Destruction of Alycia Lane

WHAT HAPPENED TO Alycia Lane? When she arrived in Philadelphia four and a half years ago, she had “future network star” written all over her beautiful, high-cheekboned face. She was smart. Hardworking. A good reporter.

Today, Alycia Lane is a household name, though her celebrity has more in common with Paris and Lindsay than with Diane and Katie. Indeed, the incident that put the final nail in Lane’s coffin — allegedly assaulting that New York City cop — may have been the juiciest celeb meltdown since Britney shaved her head. According to reports, Lane, Booker and another couple were in a cab when one of the men got out and approached an unmarked police car at a stoplight. After police officers emerged from the car, Lane got out of the cab, pulled out a camera, placed it against an officer’s face, and started yelling. Police say she then struck one of the officers in the face.

That Lane, 35, was accused of violence shocked her co-workers. But losing her temper? Acting holier than thou? Yelling “I don’t give a fuck who you are. I am a reporter, you fucking dyke” — which Lane was accused of doing? (She has pleaded not guilty.) To many at CBS 3, that sounded a lot like the Alycia Lane they knew.

“If she perceives you to be above her, you get tears and doe eyes,” says one newsroom staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If you are perceived to be below her, you get threats and cursing.”

As word spread of the New York incident, staffers just rolled their eyes at “another Alycia mess.” It’s not that people didn’t like her, but at least three staffers perceived that there were different rules for her. She could be late. She could miss meetings. She could make staffers wait for her. She could even send text-messages during commercials — at least, until news director Susan Schiller sent an e-mail to the staff, reminding everyone not to use phones on-set.

But the day after Lane’s arrest, the general irritation turned to bona fide ire. Her co-workers were appalled to learn that as soon as she was released from jail — even before getting in touch with her boss, Michael Colleran, they heard — she tried to call Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. For that, people wanted her gone. And on January 7th, they got their wish. “After assessing the overall impact of a series of incidents resulting from judgments she has made,” Colleran said, “we have concluded that it would be impossible for Alycia to continue to report the news as she, herself, has become the focus of so many news stories.”

Lane immediately revved up for a fight, hiring high-powered Philadelphia attorney Paul Rosen. “The station encouraged her personal life to become public, then used that against her,” says Rosen. He termed her firing “unfair” and “unwarranted”: “There has been absolutely no determination that Alycia is guilty of any wrongful conduct.” Lane, in other words, was merely a victim.