‘Historic tension’ between two top stars adds to ABC woes: report

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Two of the top stars of ABC News are allegedly at the center of “historic tension” that is only adding to the network’s woes.

Claims about the long-standing rivalry between ABC News’s David Muir and George Stephanopoulos were discussed by Oliver Darcy in a holiday edition of his Status newsletter in which he answered readers’ questions.

“It has been reported that there is a feud between ABC News anchors George Stephanopoulos and David Muir. I’m curious to know what you know about the dynamic between the two anchors and the impact it has on ABC News,” one question read.

“There certainly has been historic tension — to put it lightly — between the two anchors,” Darcy replied. “That has resulted in headaches for the network’s bosses.”

“But viewers may notice that, for the last few years, George Stephanopoulos has been absent during politics-focused special coverage, such as Election Night. Those duties now fall squarely to David Muir. Brian Stelter wrote a good primer on all of this back in 2021,” he added.

The tensions have only added to the network’s problems as it just recently agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library. That stemmed from a defamation lawsuit over Stephanopoulos saying on-air that Trump was found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

Stephanopoulos lands new deal at ABC after his mouth cost network $16M, was warned about ‘rape’ claim https://t.co/tOAXaXU1Sz via @BIZPACReview

— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) December 19, 2024

As ABC News moved into new studios in downtown New York City this year, Stephanopoulos reportedly wanted “a dressing room as big as rival David Muir’s space,” according to The U.S. Sun.

“George has been interested in making sure he gets whatever David Muir gets,” an “insider” claimed. “He’s been asking people on his team to find out what David is getting to make sure his is comparable.”

Another source told the outlet there was “no merit” to those claims, however.

Stephanopoulos served as White House communications director for President Bill Clinton and joined ABC in 1997. The “Good Morning America” anchor was named the ABC’s Chief Anchor in 2014, a title never before used by the network.

“Back in 2021, Disney boss Bob Iger flew from California to New York to broker a deal with Stephanopoulos after he threatened to leave ABC because younger rival Muir had been promoted to Chief Anchor,” the Daily Mail reported. “Stephanopoulos was irate when Muir was given the responsibility of leading the network’s special coverage of breaking news stories and special events – a role Stephanopoulos had held since 2014.”

While the 2024 presidential election race was in full swing this year, In Touch reported that “tensions have ratcheted up now that George, 63, scored the big plum of interviewing President Joe Biden, and David, 50, is being forced to air it on his show!”

“They both wanted the big sit-down with Biden, and George won,” an insider told the outlet. “They have separate teams who see each other as competitors rather than colleagues, making George and David the Real Housewives of ABC News. It’s ugly!”

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.