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ABC SVP on leave following allegations of racism, abuse


mountainave

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Barbara Fedida, ABC News SVP, is on admin leave following this report. The article is quite alarming. 
 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abc-news-toxicity-thrives_n_5ee3db80c5b684a0c4f2e297

 

Fedida is know to push the envelope. You might recall that Tory Johnson, GMA contributor, wrote a book about her weight loss in which she “thanked” Fedida for a wake-up call. Fedida asked her to lunch and told her that if she didn’t lose weight she’d be fired. 
 

Additional allegations are contained in a Twitter thread here:

 

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3 hours ago, mountainave said:

Barbara Fedida, ABC News SVP, is on admin leave following this report. The article is quite alarming. 
 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abc-news-toxicity-thrives_n_5ee3db80c5b684a0c4f2e297

 

Fedida is know to push the envelope. You might recall that Tory Johnson, GMA contributor, wrote a book about her weight loss in which she “thanked” Fedida for a wake-up call. Fedida asked her to lunch and told her that if she didn’t lose weight she’d be fired. 
 

Additional allegations are contained in a Twitter thread here:

 


That was a very interesting article, you know ABC looks so great on the outside, but not on the inside. So it not always peach and creamy at the network. It shows that Kendis Gibson a rising anchor had to switch to MSNBC which when he left I thought was very fishy, and suspicious. I’ve seen how ABC and Kendis Gibson, had some trouble because even with Diane Macedo leaving later to do general reporting it’s show, something I’ve even after ABC paired Kenneth Moton and Janai Norman together, I was happy an all-black news team to inform me. They were even named by the announcer at the beginning of the show open, but further in Janai’s pregnancy she somehow stopped appearing and I felt suspicious of that. Yeah maybe a few days with an Indian (can’t remember her name) anchor filling in for a few days I smelt something fishy after various replacements were filing in for months at a time and now the regular daily fill-in is Mona Kasir Abdi. But anyways she wasn’t on the desk for major news events like George Floyd’s killing and Coronavirus Covid-19 (a major Emmy seeking news event for journalist at the local and national level) And I thought hmm now I knew she did the what’s POP News segment that Lara Spencer does on the weekdays (and Lara herself hasn’t been very alright herself with the Prince George and ballet Controversy), on GMA Weekend or whatever weekend segment, but she would also do World a News Now on the weekdays it just didn’t feel right. Now I know she was on maternity leave but not that long average 3 months, maybe 6 months she might be still pregnant. But I smelled something suspicious because they were even an established team for 6 months. Only had the voices announced only maybe I could count 14 days when they announce the names at the beginning of the show. That smelled fishy but even though I’m warming up to Mona Kasir Abdi. I felt weird about it why isn’t she there and I assumed is in charge of diversity and news team pairings why did she not keep them on the air to establish themselves before any medical or personal leave happen. My point something smelled fishy for once and now it coming out in a time of a white awakening, and it’s happening at ABC News and now there failing victims to behind the scenes chaos exposure. I’m excited for what comes out in the coming days on this I got my popcorn ready!!!

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Good Morning America Sunday is covering the story right now and reading a statement from the network, including a reference to the alleged derogatory comment towards Robin Roberts and showing a very visible support for Robin.
 

I hadn’t heard the Tory Johnson story but that’s pretty insane. I don’t see how Barbara can come back from something like this in the time we’re living in right now.

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Yeah. I saw one of the Twitter posts about this on the UK equivalent of our site, and it was quite alarming.

4 hours ago, MorningNews said:

Good Morning America Sunday is covering the story right now and reading a statement from the network, including a reference to the alleged derogatory comment towards Robin Roberts and showing a very visible support for Robin.
 

I hadn’t heard the Tory Johnson story but that’s pretty insane. I don’t see how Barbara can come back from something like this in the time we’re living in right now.

 

Yeah, I agree. There’s no coming back for Barbara after this (and I can just imagine what the Twitter cancel culture is going to do to her).

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10 hours ago, Gavin said:

That was a very interesting article, you know ABC looks so great on the outside, but not on the inside. So it not always peach and creamy at the network. It shows that Kendis Gibson a rising anchor had to switch to MSNBC which when he left I thought was very fishy, and suspicious. I’ve seen how ABC and Kendis Gibson, had some trouble because even with Diane Macedo leaving later to do general reporting it’s show, something I’ve even after ABC paired Kenneth Moton and Janai Norman together, I was happy an all-black news team to inform me. They were even named by the announcer at the beginning of the show open, but further in Janai’s pregnancy she somehow stopped appearing and I felt suspicious of that. Yeah maybe a few days with an Indian (can’t remember her name) anchor filling in for a few days I smelt something fishy after various replacements were filing in for months at a time and now the regular daily fill-in is Mona Kasir Abdi. But anyways she wasn’t on the desk for major news events like George Floyd’s killing and Coronavirus Covid-19 (a major Emmy seeking news event for journalist at the local and national level) And I thought hmm now I knew she did the what’s POP News segment that Lara Spencer does on the weekdays (and Lara herself hasn’t been very alright herself with the Prince George and ballet Controversy), on GMA Weekend or whatever weekend segment, but she would also do World a News Now on the weekdays it just didn’t feel right. Now I know she was on maternity leave but not that long average 3 months, maybe 6 months she might be still pregnant. But I smelled something suspicious because they were even an established team for 6 months. Only had the voices announced only maybe I could count 14 days when they announce the names at the beginning of the show. That smelled fishy but even though I’m warming up to Mona Kasir Abdi. I felt weird about it why isn’t she there and I assumed is in charge of diversity and news team pairings why did she not keep them on the air to establish themselves before any medical or personal leave happen. My point something smelled fishy for once and now it coming out in a time of a white awakening, and it’s happening at ABC News and now there failing victims to behind the scenes chaos exposure. I’m excited for what comes out in the coming days on this I got my popcorn ready!!!

 

Uhhhhh. A lot to unpack here. There is soooooo much inappropriate behavior to call out, but I'm not sure focusing on the overnight female anchor chair is it.

 

World News Now anchors cycle in and out all the time, going back almost 30 years. Janai stopped appearing in-studio because SHE'S PREGNANT IN A PANDEMIC. Robin's medical history warranted a similar move. Janai was already barely appearing overnights, with her weekend duties.

 

Also, if someone is in the business just to get awards, at the expense of tragic/catastrophic events, then they need to get their priorities straight.

 

Some personal issues between some anchors and Barbara are very likely, but calling racism when an African American is replaced for a few days by "an Indian" (yikes), and then for the long haul by another black anchor feels a little like an overreaction.

 

Barbara needs to go, like yesterday, and based on some stories in the article, Goldston should probably resign, as well.

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10 hours ago, 24994J said:

Barbara needs to go, like yesterday, and based on some stories in the article, Goldston should probably resign, as well.

 
Fedadi is gone for sure. I think it’s just the matter of ABC doing it’s due diligence. I would probably fire Goldston, Menton and anyone else who may have been complicit given these incidents have reportedly been going on for years.

 

I will never understand why any network would stand by these types of awful people in the first place.

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42 minutes ago, jase said:

 I will never understand why any network would stand by these types of awful people in the first place.

 

For real. Everybody is expendable.

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Sunny Hustin on The View addressing the reports and seemingly shaken after it was revealed that Barbara referred to her as “low rent.” Does the view fall under ABC News or ABC Entertainment?

 

Not sure what ABC is waiting on to announce termination of Barbara and several other leaders. No excuse for this to be happening at the network that prides itself on being a beacon for diversity and culture.

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On 6/14/2020 at 3:56 AM, Gavin said:


That was a very interesting article, you know ABC looks so great on the outside, but not on the inside. So it not always peach and creamy at the network. It shows that Kendis Gibson a rising anchor had to switch to MSNBC which when he left I thought was very fishy, and suspicious. I’ve seen how ABC and Kendis Gibson, had some trouble because even with Diane Macedo leaving later to do general reporting it’s show, something I’ve even after ABC paired Kenneth Moton and Janai Norman together, I was happy an all-black news team to inform me. They were even named by the announcer at the beginning of the show open, but further in Janai’s pregnancy she somehow stopped appearing and I felt suspicious of that. Yeah maybe a few days with an Indian (can’t remember her name) anchor filling in for a few days I smelt something fishy after various replacements were filing in for months at a time and now the regular daily fill-in is Mona Kasir Abdi. But anyways she wasn’t on the desk for major news events like George Floyd’s killing and Coronavirus Covid-19 (a major Emmy seeking news event for journalist at the local and national level) And I thought hmm now I knew she did the what’s POP News segment that Lara Spencer does on the weekdays (and Lara herself hasn’t been very alright herself with the Prince George and ballet Controversy), on GMA Weekend or whatever weekend segment, but she would also do World a News Now on the weekdays it just didn’t feel right. Now I know she was on maternity leave but not that long average 3 months, maybe 6 months she might be still pregnant. But I smelled something suspicious because they were even an established team for 6 months. Only had the voices announced only maybe I could count 14 days when they announce the names at the beginning of the show. That smelled fishy but even though I’m warming up to Mona Kasir Abdi. I felt weird about it why isn’t she there and I assumed is in charge of diversity and news team pairings why did she not keep them on the air to establish themselves before any medical or personal leave happen. My point something smelled fishy for once and now it coming out in a time of a white awakening, and it’s happening at ABC News and now there failing victims to behind the scenes chaos exposure. I’m excited for what comes out in the coming days on this I got my popcorn ready!!!

I was going to say, Janai is taking extra time off due to the pregnancy and the COVID situation. I must say, the Kenneth/Janai Combination is great. They are probably the best WNN anchors I've seen together. I wish honestly, they would've given them the 1pm hour instead of Keke, Streahan etc. (Pandemic coverage now). But I digress. It is sad to see something like this coming from ABC especially. 

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39 minutes ago, MorningNews said:

Sunny Hustin on The View addressing the reports and seemingly shaken after it was revealed that Barbara referred to her as “low rent.” Does the view fall under ABC News or ABC Entertainment?

 

Not sure what ABC is waiting on to announce termination of Barbara and several other leaders. No excuse for this to be happening at the network that prides itself on being a beacon for diversity and culture.


 

“The View” was transferred to ABC News a few years ago.  
 

For legal reasons, they will need to prove an investigation was conducted first and build a proper paper trail before terminating for cause. There are also likely ongoing conversations between lawyers for Disney/ABC and Fedida’s legal counsel who may try to negotiate an exit.

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4 hours ago, MorningNews said:

Sunny Hustin on The View addressing the reports and seemingly shaken after it was revealed that Barbara referred to her as “low rent.” Does the view fall under ABC News or ABC Entertainment?

 

Not sure what ABC is waiting on to announce termination of Barbara and several other leaders. No excuse for this to be happening at the network that prides itself on being a beacon for diversity and culture.


It falls under a ABC News Umbrella it was under ABC Entertainment Until 2015 to get prepped up for the election. But now it’s under the ABC Umbrella.

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They could be negotiating an exit, but rest assured Disney is also determining if they can fire her for cause.  They're not going to blow money (and the brand's reputation) on severance if they don't have to. 

 

I'm not an attorney, but I presume it will be harder to terminate her for cause if there is proof (settlements, HR complaints) that the company knew about, and tacitly accepted, her misconduct.

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2 hours ago, mountainave said:

They could be negotiating an exit, but rest assured Disney is also determining if they can fire her for cause.  They're not going to blow money (and the brand's reputation) on severance if they don't have to. 

 

I'm not an attorney, but I presume it will be harder to terminate her for cause if there is proof (settlements, HR complaints) that the company knew about, and tacitly accepted, her misconduct.


It’s tough to fire anyone these days regardless of position within a company which is likely why people think they can get away with anything and everything. 
 

You have to have stacks and stacks of evidence and even then, it’s still a challenge. Everyone needs to be under either a zero tolerance or 3 strikes & you’re out policy. We shall see how this pans out, but I believe more heads need to roll besides Fedida’s.

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19 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Employees at the O&Os are starting to speak out...

 

 


Well he works at FOX now with FOX O&O station KTTV also in Los Angeles. I’m surprised FOX hasn’t picked him up to be a FOX News Correspondent.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Just looking at who she hired, I don't think she was really racist, ABC News has a very diverse group of professionals, she just seems like someone who had a bad potty mouth which is totally not okay at any time, especially now with the corporate culture shift. 

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27 minutes ago, tvtime07 said:

Just looking at who she hired, I don't think she was really racist, ABC News has a very diverse group of professionals, she just seems like someone who had a bad potty mouth which is totally not okay at any time, especially now with the corporate culture shift. 


I wouldn’t say her hiring Blacks, Latinos, etc... means she wasn’t/isn’t racist. If I’m not mistaken, she was the head of diversity, so she had to, on some level, give the impression she was doing that part of her job. 
 

What seems clear is that she, along with others, created/fostered a toxic work environment which is just as bad as being racist (imo) and had too many jobs/responsibilities to be an effective leader. 

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1 hour ago, tvtime07 said:

Just looking at who she hired, I don't think she was really racist, ABC News has a very diverse group of professionals, she just seems like someone who had a bad potty mouth which is totally not okay at any time, especially now with the corporate culture shift. 

 

That is like saying Les Moonves, Charlie Rose, and Roger Ailes weren't guilty of sexual misconduct because they also hired women.

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1 hour ago, tvtime07 said:

Just looking at who she hired, I don't think she was really racist, ABC News has a very diverse group of professionals, she just seems like someone who had a bad potty mouth which is totally not okay at any time, especially now with the corporate culture shift. 

Awesome. Looks like Barbara solved racism by just hiring people of color. Doesn’t matter that she marginalized those who tried to further racial equality at the network or used racial epithets to describe the work of the network’s biggest star.

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4 hours ago, tvtime07 said:

Just looking at who she hired, I don't think she was really racist, ABC News has a very diverse group of professionals, she just seems like someone who had a bad potty mouth which is totally not okay at any time, especially now with the corporate culture shift. 


You have a lot to learn about racism. 
 

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4 hours ago, tvtime07 said:

Just looking at who she hired, I don't think she was really racist, ABC News has a very diverse group of professionals, she just seems like someone who had a bad potty mouth which is totally not okay at any time, especially now with the corporate culture shift. 

Just because she was great as a TV executive, that still doesn't mean she was also great as a person. It's possible someone can be the most fantastic, hardest-working and well-respected luminary in the business, and still be a hateful, shameless, ignorant, hardhearted ass in private. They exist. 

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