The “GMA3” anchors T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach are negotiating their exit from ABC News, less than two months after the revelation of their romantic relationship turned into a tabloid feeding frenzy, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.
Their expected departure comes a day after the start of a mediation between representatives for the anchors and the network, the people said.
A spokesman for ABC News on Friday did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The probable exit of the two anchors — who, until recently, had been considered rising stars with the potential to take over the network’s flagship show, “Good Morning America” — is another tough moment for ABC News. Last week, Cecilia Vega, the network’s chief White House correspondent, announced she was leaving for a correspondent role at “60 Minutes” at ABC’s archrival, CBS.
Mr. Holmes and Ms. Robach, whose on-air charisma had been a staple of their early-afternoon talk show, were removed from their program in early December, shortly after The Daily Mail reported that the anchors, both of whom were married, had been having an affair.
Initially, ABC News took no action. Mr. Holmes and Ms. Robach continued their anchoring duties, even alluding to the media interest in their relationship while on the air. The ABC News president, Kim Godwin, did not comment on the growing scandal during two separate internal meetings after The Daily Mail’s initial report.
Five days after that report, Ms. Godwin reversed course, abruptly telling her staff that she was pulling the anchors off the air. In an editorial call, Ms. Godwin said that while the anchors’ relationship did not amount to a violation of company policy, the episode had become an “internal and external distraction.”
At the time, a representative for the anchors said that their relationship had begun a “few months” earlier and that they had both separated from their spouses in August. The representative said Mr. Holmes and Ms. Robach had not told anyone at ABC about their relationship “because they were waiting until they both were divorced.”
In the ensuing weeks, journalists at ABC News were left in the dark as the network’s leadership kept silent on the future of both anchors. Meanwhile, a drumbeat of articles about the scandal continued to appear in gossip columns. TMZ earlier reported on Mr. Holmes’s and Ms. Robach’s potential exit from the network.
“GMA3” is an afternoon syndicated show that premiered in 2018, an offshoot of the network’s popular program, “Good Morning America.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nytimes.com
