ABC brass are fuming at Michael Strahan, sources say, after the Houston native and Good Morning America anchor did not cut his vacation short to return and cover the Hurricane Harvey disaster.
A source told Page Six: “ABC News asked Strahan to come home from his vacation. He’s from Houston. But he refused and is still floating around on a yacht in Greece somewhere. ABC is really upset with him.”
Another source said that ABC staffers “just cannot believe he didn’t come back.”
But Michael Corn, senior executive producer of GMA told us, “I spoke with [Strahan] every day. Michael was very clear he wanted to be part of the coverage, and we decided the best plan was for him to lead the charge covering the recovery.”
Strahan’s rep further said, “They did not ask him to come back. He’s been in direct contact with his family — and thankfully they are doing fine. He is headed to Houston next week and will help in any way that he can.”
GMA vet Robin Roberts returned from her end-of-summer getaway to cover the tragedy. We hear Roberts was not asked to return, but did so voluntarily. At other networks, Anderson Cooper was reportedly scheduled to be off all week at CNN, but anchored his show from Houston on Wednesday.