7 Big Scandals That Will Always Haunt ABC

The following article mentions sexual abuse and suicide.

Name one major TV network that hasn't found itself caught up in one debacle or another. We'll wait. From Fox News' most explosive controversies to the memorable scandals that completely rocked CNN, it's clear that networks can't always prevent or smooth over problems, try as they might. On-air slip-ups, news anchors going rogue on social media, shocking behind-the-scenes decisions — the list goes on. 

In 2025, ABC found itself smack-dab in the middle of the messiest of spotlights, courtesy of the second Trump administration. The network, like many others that haven't made it their full-time job to praise the president, has faced open criticism from Trump, who took to Truth Social in August 2025 to take a swipe at the company. NBC also got pulled into the fray, with Trump accusing both networks of going to extreme lengths to speak badly of him. "ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC," the president penned. "I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!! MAGA."

While getting called out by the president could be considered a big deal, the game is different when it's Donald Trump, who both loves and loathes the media, depending on how it's depicting him on any given day. But the president's ire isn't the only problem the network has had to deal with over the years. From having to fire employees for questionable tweets, weathering the fallout of faulty reporting, and having to deal with a love affair between two of its anchors, ABC is not exactly short on scandal.

Nothing rocks a television network quite as much as a racism scandal, and ABC had to weather just that after comedian Roseanne Barr, the star of "Roseanne," fired off a controversial tweet in 2018. In what became one of the most problematic things Barr has ever done, the comedian took a swipe at former President Barack Obama's aide, Valerie Jarrett, in a scathing post, penning that Jarrett was a descendant of the "Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes" (via Variety). The post sparked outrage, and Barr apologized. Her remorse didn't save her show, however. ABC canceled the "Roseanne" reboot shortly after it began, and the network would later announce a spin-off show titled "The Conners," which featured the original cast sans Barr.

While ABC executives had likely hoped the scandal would pass quickly and quietly, Barr only stirred things up again when she tried to pass the blame a year later during an interview with The Washington Post. She asserted that her co-star, Sara Gilbert, was really responsible for her firing. As far as Barr was concerned, she only got the ax because Gilbert took to social media to call the post "abhorrent" and express her disappointment in her co-star's conduct, per The Guardian. "She destroyed the show and my life with that tweet," Barr told The Post. "She will never get enough until she consumes my liver with a fine Chianti."

Barr's interview with The Post reignited the issue, but Gilbert responded to her former co-star's accusations with grace, telling the outlet, "While I'm extremely disappointed and heartbroken over the dissolution of the original show, she will always be family, and I will always love Roseanne."

In a world where major networks like ABC are written off as "fake news" by Donald Trump, it's imperative journalists do due diligence before breaking a story. Unfortunately for ABC News, chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross made a big blunder in 2017 while investigating Russian interference during the 2016 election. Ross reported that Trump had ordered former national security advisor Michael T. Flynn to make contact with Russia ahead of the presidential election. However, this was not what actually transpired: Flynn only made contact with Russia's government at Trump's directive after the 2016 election was called.

ABC apologized profusely for the error, announcing that Ross was facing a four-week suspension as a result. "We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday. The reporting conveyed by Brian Ross during the special report had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process," the network said in a statement. The mistake evoked plenty of criticism, with the director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Kathleen Culver, telling The New York Times that Ross had delivered a significant blow to ABC's reputation. "This error plays right into the hands of people who callously try to say that news media all just lie," Culver noted. "This is the kind of thing you can see being brought up again and again and again at appearances by the president, where he will take one situation in which something was wrong, and blow that out into a condemnation that all news media are fake."

And indeed, Trump did just that, taking to X to applaud ABC for suspending Ross while also calling out "fake news" (via Politico).

Aside from faulty reporting, something else a major news network wants to avoid is negative workplace allegations. Alas, ABC hasn't managed to steer clear of either. Tragic details about former ABC News anchor Kendis Gibson's time at the network came to light after his decision to quit his job, with the former "World News Now" anchor claiming he weathered a toxic work environment at ABC News.

In his 2024 book "Five Trips," Gibson alleged that shortly after he joined ABC News in 2014, a Black colleague told him, "Welcome to Mickey's plantation." Looking back on this interaction, he said in Page Six, "The sense I got from them was that it was in reference to veiled racism, and there was some truth to what was behind it." On one occasion, for example, one of his bosses berated him for wearing jeans to work, telling him, "You're doing television news now, not attending a rap concert. Don't ever wear jeans again." Gibson would later find out that this same boss said that toilet paper was more valuable than what Gibson had to offer the network. Additionally, the anchor alleged the Diversity Task Force he helped create was received poorly.  

After organizing a team that intended to foster a more inclusive work environment, Gibson said a number of his high-profile interview pitches were rejected. "If you're not on 'GMA,' you're not earning your keep. [It feels like] there's something wrong with you. It was screwing with my psyche," he told Page Six. After attempting suicide, Gibson decided to leave ABC, despite the network offering him an extended contract and a salary increase.

All the news anchor wardrobe malfunctions and makeup fails at ABC pale in comparison to the affair scandal that put the network in an unfavorable spotlight in 2022. Thanks to the Daily Mail, network stars T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach, who co-hosted "GMA3," were ousted for having an affair in November that year. Both were still married at the time. While the two continued to host their show as if nothing had happened and ABC initially seemed keen on ignoring the PR fiasco until it went away, the network's president, Kim Godwin decided five days after the story broke that Robach and Holmes had to go. While the two hadn't technically violated company policy, Godwin said their affair had turned into an "internal and external distraction," per The New York Times.

Sources told InTouch in 2024 that Godwin had made a mistake. "T.J. and Amy had star power, and the network has found no worthy replacements. That just puts more pressure on the other anchors like Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, who work hard enough as it is," they disclosed. "T.J. and Amy are following all the drama very closely and debating who's going to quit or be let go next." 

Robach and Holmes became two of many news anchors who spoke out after they were fired, even launching a podcast together where they can talk about it to their heart's content. As Holmes said on one episode, "We're the folks who lost the jobs we love because we love each other" (via Variety). Robach added that they went "through a year of hell" after their affair became public. In October 2025, they announced their engagement.

Donald Trump's contentious relationship with the media remains a thorn in the side for many news organizations, and ABC has had to bear the brunt of it on many occasions. In June 2025, the network faced another firestorm after ABC News' chief White House correspondent, Terry Moran, posted a scathing tweet denouncing Trump and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller. In the since-deleted tweet, Moran called the president a "world-class hater," adding, "his hatred [is] only a means to an end, and that end [is] his own glorification" (via The Guardian). Additionally, Moran described Miller as someone who is "richly endowed with the capacity for hatred."

The tweet evoked fury from the White House, with Vice President JD Vance and press secretary Karoline Leavitt both calling for Moran to be fired. The former White House correspondent deleted the tweet but did not issue an apology, and news soon broke that ABC had parted ways with the anchor over the tweet. Moran dedicated 28 years of his career to ABC, and while some of his peers condemned his tweet, they also agreed that ABC's decision to fire Moran set a dangerous precedent. Reason magazine editor Robby Soave called Leavitt's call for Moran's firing "censorship adjacent" in a post on X.

Moran added to the network's already throbbing headache when he told The New York Times that he'd gotten his lawyers involved. He claimed ABC had had an oral agreement with him for an extended three-year contract even though it maintained Moran's contract was ending anyway at the time of his dismissal.

Terry Moran's dismissal from ABC News wasn't the first time the network seemed to cave to pressure from President Donald Trump and his administration. In December 2024, the network paid the president a whopping $15 million settlement in response to a defamation lawsuit Trump filed after "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos had a damaging slip of the tongue on air.

It all started in March 2024, when Stephanopoulos interviewed Congresswoman Nancy Mace, questioning her alliance to Trump. Per the BBC, the anchor questioned Mace's loyalty to a man who, as he put it, had been found "liable for rape," which was a reference to the New York civil court's ruling that Trump was liable for sexual abuse in the E. Jean Carroll case. However, while the judge did assert that Carroll's rape claims were "substantially true," the president had not been found guilty of rape.

ABC issued an apology in the aftermath of Stephanopoulos' broadcast, but it was only after the network settled with Trump that it evoked the public's ire, with many questioning why it decided to cave. ABC remained mum on its decision to settle instead of letting the case go to trial. Experts who spoke to CNN speculated that ABC either wanted to avoid the discovery process, which could have led to more scandals, depending on what there was to unearth, or it was because they didn't want to be in an ongoing lawsuit with the sitting president. First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams voiced concern over the settlement, calling it "disturbing."

A move that will likely haunt ABC forever was its contentious decision to pull late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel's show off the air in September 2025. The network faced pressure from President Donald Trump's administration to axe Kimmel's program in the wake of the comedian arguing that the Republicans were capitalizing on right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk's death.

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize the kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it," Kimmel said during the September 15 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The talk show host also addressed Trump's response to questions from reporters on how he was doing after Kirk's death, suggesting the president's tone seemed nonchalant given the circumstances. "This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish," he asserted.

Kimmel's show was pulled off the air after a wave of criticism followed his comments, and Trump and his supporters celebrated. But many members of the public — and politicians — saw ABC's decision as a threat to the First Amendment. Matters grew worse for the network as prominent celebrities voiced criticism for its decision to put Kimmel's show on ice, and ABC's parent company, Disney, saw subscriptions to Disney Plus tank by 1.7 million as members of the public withdrew their support from the network in protest. To ABC's credit, the network did decide to walk back its decision to cancel the show, and, of course, Kimmel wasted no time torpedoing Trump's ego in his return to late night.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, or has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. 

• Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
• Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).