ABC is throwing everything it has, including a few bottles of booze, at Amy Robach during their contentious mediation talks this week.
When networks are trying to get someone out the door after a scandal without paying them a huge exit deal, they often try to make it seem as if the ousted staffer wasn’t much of an employee in the first place.
And it seems that ABC’s really scraping the distillery barrel for dirt on Robach, who is said to be headed for the door after her affair with co-anchor T.J. Holmes was unearthed.
“Everything they are bringing up is so minor having to do with Amy,” a source tells us of the negotiations.
TMZ reported that one of the issues that has been brought up in the talks is that Robach had alcohol in her dressing room, which violates ABC policy.
But an insider tells Page Six they were sealed, and Robach didn’t even bring them to the office. “That’s how ridiculous that has gotten. In media, you get sent bottles [as gifts] and the bottles in her room were sealed,” a source tell Page Six.
“They are using any excuse,” the source adds. “Other people in the office also have alcohol, it’s everywhere and it’s unopened.”
The site said that ABC has accused Robach of coming to work drunk one morning following the College Football National Championship game, but the source told the outlet that the claim is “insane.” The source said that Robach was just tired.
Sources have told Page Six that Robach and Holmes are both expected to be out when the talks wrap up.
They are now working on an exit deal and discussing contract payouts.
A source told Page Six that, “Unless ABC reaches a satisfactory departure agreement with both Amy and T.J., they would both be looking at filing lawsuits against the network.”
The pair, who have worked together on “GMA3” since 2020, were taken off the the air in December after their affair made headlines in November 2022.
The ongoing media circus around the affair has led to behind-the-scenes finger pointing, we reported earlier this week.
In addition to an investigation into the couple, multiple sources told us ABC has been so concerned about potential leaks they launched an internal investigation into who might be running their mouths about the couple.
Since news of the romance broke, Holmes has also been accused of multiple affairs with younger female staffers.
Meanwhile, Holmes filed for divorce from his wife Marilee Fiebig, 45, on Dec. 28 after almost 13 years of marriage. They share 9-year-old daughter Sabine.
Robach is married to “Melrose Place” alum Andrew Shue — but we reported in December that they were about to finalize their divorce.
She was previously married to former MLB player Tim McIntosh from 1996 to 2008. They share two daughters: Ava, who was born in 2002, and Analise, who was born in 2006.