GOOD MORNING AMERICA HOSTS FULL
“I’d say if so many weren’t already working remotely, I’d recommend a walk-out or all declare a mental health day off until management, Disney management promises to publish a full accounting of who knew what and when, who followed up and who didn’t, what was done and what should have been done,” former Good Morning America executive producer Shelley Ross, a veteran news staffer, told The Daily Beast. Other staffers objected to the network’s statement on the lawsuit, which neglected to express support for the women who accused Corn of misconduct.
GOOD MORNING AMERICA HOSTS SERIES
“She told him personally that she wasn’t referring to him and called the team the next day to reiterate that her comment was not about any one individual.”īut the environment at ABC News in the wake of the lawsuit has been “chaotic,” according to staffers, who pointed to a series of hastily organized calls with news executives that only raised more questions about who knew what and when about the allegations against Corn. “Robin and George are fine,” ABC News spokesperson Caragh Fisher said in a statement to The Daily Beast, declining to address other questions including whether other women had come forward with allegations about Corn. Her agent, Jon Rosen of Endeavor, did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Roberts remains “incensed” about ABC’s handling of the allegations as well as her co-host’s actions (or lack thereof), and has made her feelings known to bosses, according to colleagues who have spoken with her in recent days. The network was so eager to please the famed anchor that Disney executive chairman Bob Iger and Peter Rice, chairman of general entertainment content, reportedly flew across the country to offer him a lucrative contract extension. His rep, Alan Berger of Creative Artists Agency, did not respond to a request for comment.īut ABC News staffers are questioning whether Stephanopoulos, a former political operative who gained notoriety as a Clinton White House aide and is now one of the most powerful people at ABC News, did enough to sound the alarm or intervene after he was informed of the allegations against Corn.Īs an example of the power and influence Stephanopoulos wields within ABC News, insiders pointed to a situation earlier this year in which he threatened to defect to a rival network over tensions with colleague and bitter rival David Muir. The GMA co-host and This Week moderator has been off the air in recent days, self-isolating after his daughter was diagnosed with COVID-19. The comment quickly made its way back to Stephanopoulos, who was “livid,” according to the people familiar. ABC News employees who spoke with The Daily Beast asked to do so anonymously out of fear of retaliation. Staffers who heard the remark said it was unsubtly directed at Stephanopoulos, who, according to the lawsuit, had been informed of Crawford’s sexual assault allegations almost four years ago and continued to work with Corn. GMA staffers discussed the lawsuit on a team-wide call, during which a clearly emotional Roberts declared, “If this happened to someone on my team, I would have burned the place down,” according to multiple people who were present for the meeting. Corn has vehemently denied the allegations, and ABC disputed the claims and vowed to fight them in court. Last week, Kirstyn Crawford, a producer who works closely with Stephanopoulos on the top-rated morning show, filed a lawsuit against Michael Corn, the former senior executive producer of GMA, alleging he sexually assaulted her and cultivated a toxic work environment. As such, recently installed news president Kim Godwin, who came into the job promising to clean up the culture, is now in her fourth month in the position and already dealing with the significant challenge of quelling internal dissent over the situation, according to sources. The fallout from the lawsuit has engulfed ABC News, with staffers furious about the company’s handling of the matter.
Photo Illustration by Kristen Hazzard & Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast/Photos GettyĪ bombshell lawsuit against the former top producer of Good Morning America has ignited a firestorm behind the scenes, with co-hosts George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts allegedly at each other’s throats over the handling of claims that their former boss sexually assaulted multiple women at the network, four people with knowledge of the situation told The Daily Beast.
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