David Muir and George Stephanopoulos have a had a ‘historic’ feud as they have competed for power at ABC News for years.
The two newsmen have been known to have tension and now are barely seen on screen together as a result, as revealed by Oliver Darcy in a holiday edition of the Status newsletter.
‘There certainly has been historic tension — to put it lightly — between the two anchors,’ Darcy wrote in response to a question about the dynamic between Muir and Stephanopoulos.
‘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.’
The two news anchors have reportedly had a professional rivalry for years, which widened when Joe Biden‘s advisors chose Stephanopoulos to conduct the first interview with the president following his disastrous debate performance.
The US Sun reported in September that as the anchors moved into a new studio in New York City, Stephanopoulos ‘wanted a dressing room as big as rival David Muir’s space.’
‘George has been interested in making sure he gets whatever David Muir gets,’ the insider told the outlet.
ABC News stars David Muir and George Stephanopoulos have a had a ‘historic’ feud as they have competed for power at ABC News for years. They are seen with Diane Sawyer and James Goldston in 2014
As the anchors moved into a new studio in New York City, Stephanopoulos reportedly ‘wanted a dressing room as big as rival David Muir’s space’
Back in 2021, Disney boss Bob Iger flew from California to New York to broker a deal with Stephanopoulos after he threatened to leave ABC because younger rival Muir had been promoted to Chief Anchor
‘He’s been asking people on his team to find out what David is getting to make sure his is comparable.”
Earlier this year, DailyMail.com reported on a Radar Online story that gave insight into the alleged feud.
‘The rivalry between David and George is real and makes for tension behind-the-scenes…’
That rivalry reportedly goes back to Muir’s rise at the network and Stephanopoulos resistance to being replaced by a younger journalist.
Back in 2021, Disney boss Bob Iger flew from California to New York to broker a deal with Stephanopoulos after he threatened to leave ABC because younger rival Muir had been promoted to Chief Anchor.
Stephanopoulos was irate when Muir was given the responsibility of leading the network’s special coverage of breaking news stories and special events – a role Stephanopoulos had held since 2014.
The Good Morning America anchor served as White House Communications Director in the early 1990s for Bill Clinton. He joined ABC in 1997 and was given the Chief Anchor role in 2014. The network had never had one before.
When he found out that the Chief Anchor responsibilities were being handed over to Muir, 47, even though the title wasn’t, he threatened to walk.
The two news anchors have reportedly had a professional rivalry for years, which widened when Biden’s advisors chose Stephanopoulos to conduct the first interview with the president following his disastrous debate performance
The rivalry between the two men dates back to 2014 when Muir replaced Diane Sawyer on what was then known as ABC World News. Muir is seen with Biden in 2023
The two newsmen have been known to have tension and now are barely seen on screen together at ABC as a result
The rivalry between the two men dates back to 2014 when Muir replaced Diane Sawyer on what was then known as ABC World News. It is now called World News Tonight.
At the time, the World News anchor role was the most coveted in the organization and whoever filled it was considered top dog.
Stephanopoulos was already hosting GMA and was leading it to enormous commercial success but wanted the World News Tonight role. He stayed on the morning schedule.
Muir was given the World News anchor job. He was considerably less experienced than Stephanopoulos at the time, so the Chief Anchor role went to the latter, as did the higher salary.
