Report: Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts are "at each other's throats" over a former producer's sexual misconduct lawsuit

The Daily Beast

The lawsuit that Kirstyn Crawford filed last week has "ignited a firestorm behind the scenes" at GMA, according to The Daily Beast. Crawford, a producer who works closely with Stephanopoulos on GMA, filed last week against Michael Corn, the former senior executive producer of GMA, alleging he sexually assaulted her and cultivated a toxic work environment. Corn has denied the allegations, while ABC plans to fight the lawsuit in court. The Daily Beast's Lachlan Cartwright reports: "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. 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. ABC News employees who spoke with The Daily Beast asked to do so anonymously out of fear of retaliation. The comment quickly made its way back to Stephanopoulos, who was 'livid,' according to the people familiar. 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. His rep, Alan Berger of Creative Artists Agency, did not respond to a request for comment. But 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." Cartwright adds: "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. Her agent, Jon Rosen of Endeavor, did not respond to requests for comment." ALSO: Good Morning America names Simone Swink as executive producer days after her predecessor was sued over alleged sexual assault.