In the midst of research to develop the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show, which centers around a sexual misconduct scandal at a morning news show, a writer for the show, Jay Carson (The Front Runner), unveiled a real-life scandal at the ABC morning show, Good Morning America, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A Wall Street Journal report published Monday detailed that in the fall of 2017, Carson spoke to ABC News producer Kirstyn Crawford about the prevalence of sexual harassment in the TV news business, when she accused her boss of alleged harassment two years prior.
Apple’s The Morning Show follows morning show anchor Alex Levy, played by Jennifer Aniston (Friends), who must deal with the aftermath of allegations of sexual misconduct against her best friend and co-anchor, Mitch Kessler, played by Steve Carell (The Office). Even when Kessler is replaced by Reese Witherspoon’s (Big Little Lies) Bradley Jackson, Alex was forced to face challenges related to the letting go of her long-time co-anchor and accepting that he was not who she thought he was. The second season of the series concluded in November.
It wasn’t announced that Crawford’s boss, Michael Corn, would be departing the network until April 2021. Simone Swinke was named Corn’s replacement just a week after the lawsuit was filed.