'Good Morning America' Disses Josh Elliot By Refusing Him a Formal Farewell Like Sam Champion?
Josh Elliot was not allowed to give a formal farewell to fans, despite the network letting Sam Champion send a huge goodbye last year.
According to reports, ABC News president Ben Sherwood refused to let Elliot bid farewell after GMA viewers watched a four-minute highlight reel of the journalist's highlight during his tenure on the show.
"Sherwood was absolutely stunned by Josh's behavior during contract talks to keep him at GMA," a network source told Radar Online. "Ben had been executive producer of GMA, and had picked Josh from relative obscurity to be the news reader for the morning show.
"On Sunday night, Josh simply e-mailed Ben informing him that he would be taking a job with NBC Sports. He didn't even have the decency to call Ben and tell him. It was extremely unprofessional and in poor character to do that. It was a no-brainer for Ben, he made it clear that Josh wouldn't be allowed to come back on the show to say goodbye."
Elliot took to Twitter to downplay the farewell, writing,Tough to watch that, through leaky eyes. But I thank you, @GMA, for three wonderful years. And Robin, George, Lara, Amy and GZ: I love you."
When Champion left the network, Elliot told the veteran:
"I just want to say thank you. Because it's been a gift each and every day to work with you, Sam. A lot of people talked about our bromance, and for me it was just a friendship."
