Source: Splash News / Splash News
It appears Good Morning America anchor, Michael Strahan, might be ruffling some feathers at work. Page Six sources claim the media personality and former football player is getting special treatment from ABC bosses and his co-workers are hating.
“They roll out the carpet for [Strahan] while seasoned talent is treated like dirt. He’s been given a lot of opportunity, flexibility, when the others who have been working there longer don’t get that kind of treatment,” one source said. Along with GMA, Strahan also has a special deal with Fox NFL Sunday, allowing him to still analyze football and host ABC’s $100,000 Pyramid. However, when Strahan joined the morning show, he had to end most of his lucrative endorsement deals.
The source insisted anchor Lara Spencer feels like she’s being overshadowed by Strahan on GMA. They said she “feels like her role has been minimized with Strahan. There’s not a lot of love between the two. They know how to put it on for the cameras, but he’s doing a lot of what Lara should be doing [on the show] and she’s not happy. She’s the pop person.” Even George Stephanopoulos is supposedly irritated with the whole situation. “He’s bored with the fluff. He goes into work, does the show and leaves by 8:57 a.m. He doesn’t interact. He’s been phoning it in for quite some time,” the source continued.
An ABC executive refutes most of these accusations. When speaking of Strahan and Spencer they proclaimed, “That’s just bulls - - t. They get along great. She loves having someone with his sense of humor on the show. Michael is lovely with the staff . . . And as for Lara, she has far more airtime in the 8 a.m. hour and is loving the studio audience.”
When speaking of Stephanopoulos, the executive continued, “The idea that George is phoning it in is absurd. He gets to GMA at, like, three in the morning. He works 16 hours a day.” They further stated, “He goes home because he does all of the special reports in addition to GMA, and he’s calling sources and getting ready for his Sunday show. He comes back to the office in the afternoon . . . And he’s incredibly engaged in the news coming out of DC right now.”
Another ABC rep proclaimed, “We’ve tripled our lead over the ‘Today’ show [in total viewers]. The show has never been better.”
Is this animosity just unsubstantiated water cooler talk or do you believe Strahan is doing the most? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
