Good Morning Americalawsuit is threatening to endanger the show’s entire production. Reports indicate that two of the most prominent stars of ABC have been sued over their handling of sexual assault allegations. GMA’s Secretly, the main anchors were fighting. Here’s what’s up.
ABC Convicted Of Fostering Toxic Work Environment
Michael Corn was the top producer GMAFrom 2014 to 2021 He ABC abruptly discontinued In April, there was no explanation. But things are slowly changing. Last week, a lawsuit was brought against him by Kirstyn Clarke for sexual assault. She’s named ABC as a defendant, alleging that the network knew about Corn’s behavior but wouldn’t open an investigation until she filed a formal complaint. According to the lawsuit, ABC should have conducted an investigation into Corn years ago for a separate incident.
Corn was accused of being sexually abusive to Jill McClain (another producer) in 2010. McClain shared her story with Crawford, but she is not a plaintiff in this case. Crawford claims that Corn sexually assaulted McClain in 2015. The lawsuit states this is: “Both [Crawford] and McClain were traumatized and rendered incapable of reporting the incidents for fear of losing their jobs since Corn was their supervisor.”
How George Stephanopoulos Factors In
Crawford is currently a producer at George Stephanopoulos. According to the lawsuit, he told Crawford second-hand information about the lawsuit in 2017 before urging her to report it to ABC. Corn threatened retaliation if she didn’t report the incident to ABC. Stephanopoulos confirmed that the account in the lawsuit was correct. He continued to work with Corn up until Corn’s departure in 2021.
That’s the part that angers co-anchor Robin Roberts. Reports are coming out that state she and Stephanopoulos are at each other’s throats over his continuing collaboration with Corn, but a spokesperson for the network says this feud is not true. No matter what’s true, it’s safe to say GMA The lawsuit is still affecting her.
What comes next?
In the wake of the lawsuit, the president of ABC News Kim Godwin ordered an independent investigation into ABC’s handling of the assaults. It is hoped that a thorough investigation from outside will uncover more truthful information. Meanwhile, Corn has moved onto his new job as head of news at Nexstar’s NewsNation. He denied that any of these things took place.
The lawsuit could expose a toxic culture at ABC News. It’s sadly an all too familiar story of abuse of power and fear-mongering. The outcome of the lawsuit will only be known after an independent investigation.