Meet Phil Williams, “Nashville’s Curiosest Slut,” who uncovered the story of Gabrielle Hanson

John Oliver praised him as “Nashville’s most curious bitch.” A right-wing extremist mayoral candidate called it “fake news.” But Phil Williams, NewsChannel 5’s senior investigative reporter in Tennessee, doesn’t care what you call him — as long as you call with tips on liars, cheaters and hypocrites.

“As my general manager points out, if you want to be popular, investigative reporting is not the job for you,” Williams, 62, told The Daily Beast in a Zoom interview last week. “But it’s important work and you just have to balance the good with the bad.”

Williams’ national profile has grown exponentially in recent weeks because of his investigation into Alderman Gabrielle Hanson, a far-right candidate for mayor in Franklin, Tennessee, where she will face voters on Tuesday. His tireless reporting has uncovered Hanson’s ties to white supremacists; her husband’s Speedo swagger– at her alleged request – at a 2008 Pride parade; and her social media photo of a group of “supporters” who did it has since denounced her and claim they don’t even know her.

Hanson’s reporting made national headlines – the revelations were published on MSNBC and in The guard and The Daily Beast. It has also sparked a barrage of attacks on Williams from Hanson and her supporters. Some of Hanson’s supporters — members of a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “white nationalist hate group” — have denounced Williams as a “hairclip.” [sic] Lying bag of shit” for the “international Jewish media” on the social messaging app Telegram.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about these hate groups,” Williams said. “I think I live rent-free in their heads more often than in mine. I think some of them crave attention and I don’t feel like giving them more attention unless it’s necessary.”

Williams may be a new name to many outside of Tennessee, but the Hanson investigation is just the latest journalistic success in a 25-year career at NewsChannel 5. He began his print career at Florida today before he later moved to the Tennessee– where he was a Pulitzer finalist in 1990 two-year investigation entered the state’s charity bingo industry and won the Peabody Award at Nashville’s local ABC affiliate in 1993 cover of the Tennessee General Assembly. He won the Peabody two more times as well as four duPonts and a Polk Award, among others.

Courtesy of Phil Williams and GM PR

The roots of this career as a corruption detector were laid at a young age. Williams describes himself as a “child of Watergate” and is fascinated by reporters’ ability to shine a spotlight on government violations. He also saw the hardships his father had to endure as a taxi driver to get a new job as a prison guard.

“Basically he was told, ‘Look, if you want to get this state job, it would be really helpful if he went to the local political boss and slipped him some money to get his support,'” Williams said. “So I remember going with my dad to the local political boss and he had to find the money to attach to his application for a job with the state.”

That experience taught Williams the mantra that has guided him throughout his career: Power changes people, and it doesn’t discriminate by party. “Human beings are fallible and subject to change through power,” he said.

Fallible people are the main characters in a story by Phil Williams. His duties at NewsChannel 5 include investigating a district official who had a slot machine in the office break room and was his deputy physically pushed Williams was outside when he found it; A look into how some Tennessee police departments operate benefits from cash confiscated from motorists simply because they suspected it was drug money; and how a Democratic senator used his political position take money from special interests.

Bryan Staples/WTVF

“​​My best stories are when people are blatantly lying about themselves or about what they want to do,” Williams said. “That’s why the recent stories out of Franklin, Tennessee, have resonated so much…Gabrielle Hanson clearly took a photo that didn’t show a group of supporters and claimed that was the case. She brought white supremacists to a candidates forum. There’s not a lot of gray in stories like that.”

Delving into the black and white, the good and the evil, has made Williams some serious enemies. He showed Lawsuits and death threats of the subjects of his reporting long before he turned his suspicious mind on Hanson. He is reluctant to respond to attacks he faced from her supporters at the Tennessee Active Club, who dredged up and publicized it details about his wife’s alcohol-related death and posted a fake photo of Williams black face.

He says these tactics never have the intended effect. After an investigation in 2000 led to this Death threats self-described “Actual, literal Nazi” Brad Lewis and Williams said he was asked if the story was worth pursuing.

“My photographer came into my office, closed the door and said, ‘Are you sure you want to keep up and keep doing this?'” he said. “My response at the time was: ‘If I don’t do it, who will?'”

His persistence and results have not gone unnoticed by those in charge at NewsChannel 5, where all of last week was spent celebrating Williams’ quarter-century anniversary at the station.

“It’s a good thing for us to recognize Phil, who is the best of the best,” said Lyn Plantinga, vice president and general manager. “But it is also an incentive and an encouragement to every journalist out there who has their head down. They pursue truth, are guided by facts, and do great work in newsrooms, both locally and nationally, across the country.”

Plantinga met Williams when he was working at local ABC affiliate WKRN and was writing a story that was “not the type of investigative work that I know is his passion.”

“I turned to my boss, who was the director, and said, ‘You need to hire Phil Williams,'” Plantinga said. “You could just tell he wasn’t doing the work he wanted to do, and I knew what he was capable of.”

While he prides himself on being a local journalist, some of his stories have transcended Nashville’s borders and entered the cultural zeitgeist. His investigation, “Policing for Profit,” inspired an episode of The good wife, and late-night comedians have covered his coverage.

Bryan Staples/WTVF

Last month, he was also announced as the recipient of Columbia Journalism School’s 2023 John Chancellor Award, which recognizes excellence in journalism. Previous recipients include well-known names like Gwen Ifill of PBS, The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer and Richard Engel of NBC News.

“Phil Williams’ work sets a high standard and is an outstanding example of good local reporting,” said Dean Jelani Cobb said in the price announcement. “At a time when local newsrooms are under threat, we are proud to recognize Phil’s career with the John Chancellor Award.”

Williams doesn’t think of ever fully retiring – it’s hard to break away from journalism. He wants to write his memoirs, but admits that even his weekly goal of two or three outdoor walks is difficult to achieve.

“I fail at that most weeks,” Williams admitted.

He recounted a recent conversation with his 24-year-old son, who asked him how he felt about completing an exam.

“Keep looking for the next mountain,” Williams said. “I don’t have a pot of gold that I’m aiming for. It’s like, ‘Okay, I’ve climbed this mountain.'” What’s the next mountain?'”