Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, hasn’t even been working for six months, but she’s already infuriated her bosses at Disney.
When Godwin called for an independent third-party investigation into how sexual assault allegations were handled against former “GMA” boss Michael Corn (allegations Corn denies), Disney Entertainment General content president Peter Rice , got angry. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to me on Wednesday. Also annoying with Godwin: Disney general counsel and executive vice president Alan Braverman, according to one such source.
A Disney spokesman did not respond to repeated requests for comment Wednesday. And I also contacted Godwin, who did not respond. But one of the sources told me that Burbank is “really angry” with her …
Within ABC News, several people familiar with the dynamics said morale is low. These people also pointed out that Rice has been MIA. In fact, The Culture Council, a peer-to-peer group of employees working with leadership to promote change in the company, even got in touch with Rice. These employees wrote Rice “requesting that he personally address the News Division,” according to an email the council sent the employees and I got.
This has not happened. Instead, Rice has been “a ghost,” as one source frankly told me. In fact, Disney and Rice have been silent, not answering basic questions about events that have shaken the newsroom. For example, will the company grant its wish to Godwin and give the green light to an independent investigation into what happened to “GMA”? Disney will not say. In fact, I can’t even get the company spokesperson to recognize my emails …
Who knew what?
Brian Stelter writes, “Oliver and I hear versions of this same question from inside ABC News:“ Who knew what when? Godwin was not on the ABC when the alleged incidents in “GMA” occurred, but lower-level executives did. Several of them were named in the lawsuit. Who was there when formal complaints were filed with the company in February at the company? Rice One of my sources pointed out that rumors about Corn’s abrupt departure have been circulating for months, so none of this new controversy should have been surprising to Disney. ABCer told me with a sigh … “
Godwin’s note
Godwin appeared to reiterate his call for an independent investigation into the matter Wednesday. “We will invest in additional resources to support our group,” he wrote in a note, “and we will ask for both internal and external experience to help guide us.” Note that it includes the word “external”.
In his note, Godwin interestingly praised The Culture Council, the same group that Rice wrote asking to be addressed in the newsroom. He said the group’s work is “more important than ever” and that its members “work hard to help us create positive change.” He added: “We must continue to support and promote this work, to move it forward and continue to evolve.”
Godwin also announced that, for now, ABC News will expand its human resources team. “For GMA and the DC Bureau, we are taking immediate steps to assign dedicated human resource business partners to these teams,” Godwin said. Godwin ended his note by saying that “this is just the beginning …”