‘Historic Tension’ Between Top ABC Anchors Revealed In Jarring Report
Tension is high at ABC as two of its biggest stars are engaged in a bitter rivalry that is tearing apart its news division, according to a new report.
In a holiday edition of her Status newsletter, media reporter Oliver Darcy writes that anchors David Muir and George Stephanopoulos refuse to appear on-set together, forcing producers to adjust the network’s coverage during some of its biggest yearly events. Those include Election Night, which Muir manned solo after Stephanopoulos reportedly reached a “historic tension” with his peer. “There certainly has been historic tension — to put it lightly — between the two anchors,” Darcy confirmed.a
“That has resulted in headaches for the network’s bosses. But viewers may notice that, for the last few years, Stephanopoulos has been absent during politics-focused special coverage, such as Election Night. Those duties now fall squarely to David Muir,” she adds. According to the Daily Mail, the feud has expanded to cover not just their footprints on the airwaves, but in the studio as well. Stephanopoulos “wanted a dressing room as big as rival David Muir’s space,” the report alleges, and an insider confirmed that “George has been interested in making sure he gets whatever David Muir gets. He’s been asking people on his team to find out what David is getting to make sure his is comparable.”
Tense times behind the scenes grew when the Biden team selected Stephanopoulos to conduct the first post-debate interview with the president, but that was just the latest chapter in a feud stretching back years. In 2021, Disney CEO Bob Iger reportedly flew from Los Angeles to New York to broker a deal to keep Stephanopoulos from resigning after the younger Muir was promoted to Chief Anchor. The role had been held by Stephanopoulos since 2014, and he was chafed by the notion that he was being sidelined by his younger, more ambitious 47-year-old colleague.
In 2014, Muir was selected to replace Diane Sawyer on “ABC World News,” now known as “World News Tonight.” Stephanopoulos, who was helming the popular “Good Morning America” program at the time, had vied for the role but instead was offered the Chief Anchor role and its higher salary, the outlet reported. Stephanopoulos has been with ABC since 1997 after serving as White House Communications Director for former President Bill Clinton.
Earlier this month, ABC reached a $15 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald Trump alleging defamation by Stephanopoulos during coverage of the election. The longtime anchor repeatedly stated Trump had been “found liable for rape” and “defaming the victim of that rape” during an interview with Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-NC), both false statements under New York law according to the AP. Despite the error, Stephanopoulos has been reportedly raging at the network’s decision to settle the suit rather than fight Trump in court.