Two ABC News legends apparently can't stand each other. That's if you believe the latest report about the news network. David Muir and George Stephanopoulos are in a "historic" feud and really don't like each other.
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Muir and Stephanopoulos don't appear on screen together much these days. According to Oliver Darcy, CNN's former 'Reliable Sources' Critic, there's a good reason why. In his holiday Status newsletter, Dacy discussed the feud between Muir and Stephanopoulos at ABC News.
"There certainly has been historic tension — to put it lightly — between the two anchors," Darcy wrote. "That has resulted in headaches for the network's bosses. But viewers may notice that, for the last few years, Stephanopoulos has been absent during politics-focused special coverage, such as Election Night. Those duties now fall squarely to David Muir."
According to Darcy, politics has played a role in the widening of their feud. Though the two have been professional rivals for years, Darcy alleges that Joe Biden poured gasoline on those fires. Biden's advisors chose Stephanopoulos over Muir to conduct his first post-debate interview.
ABC News Feud
Meanwhile, The US Sun alleges that the feud even extends to the size of the dressing rooms. Stephanopoulos "wanted a dressing room as big as rival David Muir's space" when they moved to their new studio.
"George has been interested in making sure he gets whatever David Muir gets," the insider told the outlet. "He's been asking people on his team to find out what David is getting to make sure his is comparable."
It's important to note that a lot of this appears to be tabloid gossip. Many prescribe to the assumption where there is smoke then there's fire. But that's not always necessarily the case so take these inside reports with a certain amount of speculation.
Allegedly, the feud started after Stephanopoulos refused to be replaced by the Muir as the young buck at the station. Stephanopoulos threatened to leave ABC News, and it took an intervention from Bob Iger in 2021 to get him to stay.
Stephanopoulos was angry that Muir got promoted to Chief Anchor and was given the keys to the kingdom in covering breaking news and special events. It's a role that Stephanopoulos had carved out for himself.
Stephanopoulos threatened to walk away from ABC New as a result.
