Dear Gossips,
We are now halfway through the second week of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes getting benched from Good Morning America after their romance was exposed and following rumours that he’d had affairs with other ABC staffers over the last few years. A source told PEOPLE yesterday that:
"There are no suspensions here at all. The network is just gathering information at this time. They're investigating the relationship and understanding the details before figuring out what's next."
If there are no suspensions, as the source says, it would mean that Amy and T.J. are still getting paid. And while it’s unlikely that Amy and T.J. are making Robin Roberts or Gayle King money, these are decent size contracts, television is a business, and you can’t tell me that money isn’t a concern here in terms of the next move.
According to reports, Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, pulled them off the air because their relationship was a distraction. The media loves a media story so the network is keeping them on the sidelines until the situation cools. That, however, is a short-term solution. Because if and when they come back, the story will heat up again. If the investigation concludes and the plan is indeed to bring them back then it’s a matter of how to roll that out.
Do they talk about it on the air? Do they release a statement ahead of their return and then proceed on camera as usual and not address it? Every move will be the result of a group decision with network executives and publicists and HR specialists and legal teams considering all options with Amy and T.J., which means that the two of them, along with their managers and agents and lawyers, will be in boardrooms or on zoom calls talking business …about their personal business. It makes for a fascinating case study across several disciplines: broadcast journalism, business management, human resources, and public relations and communications.
But also, that’s only if they decide to restore Amy and TJ’s positions. The alternative is also messy considering the finances because if they package them out, their representatives are going to negotiate a big number. And on top of that, what will the terms be? Would there be a non-compete in place? What would it look like if ABC kept one anchor but not both? There are potential landmines with either scenario.
This is a really basic overview, very basic level questions, of what’s going on behind the scenes of a very complicated situation and the media reports about it have barely scratched the surface. As I’ve said before, I’m much more interested in the inside baseball of all of this than the actual affair. And now what we need is for Brian Stelter to write a sequel to Top of the Morning.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
