Barbara Fedida is an American media personality. She was best known as working for ABC News where she had been working as a Senior Vice President for Talent and Business. Fedida made headlines during the BLM movement (following the death of George Floyd) after she was accused of an extensive history of racist and unprofessional conduct. Following a series of complaints, she was initially placed on administrative leave in June 2020 until the network conducted an investigation. She was eventually fired by the network on 20 July 2020.
Fedida graduated in Journalism and Politics from New York University and started working as a broadcast assistant at CBS in 1988. She later left CBS to join ABC News in 1989. She initially worked as a journalist at ABC. She was later promoted to Vice President of Talent and Development in 2011.
Everything To Know About Barbara Fedida
Disney fires Top ABC News Executive Barbara Fedida
Walt Disney has eventually fired ABC News executive Barbara Fedida on 20 July 2020 after a long history of racist and unprofessional conduct. Fedida was initially placed on administrative leave in June 2020 until the network conducted its investigation. Upon the investigation, Fedida was eventually fired from the network.
Disney chairman, Peter Rice stated that Fedida would not be returning to the company after her suspension last month. He stated, “The investigation substantiated that Ms. Fedida did make some of the unacceptable racially insensitive comments attributed to her. It also substantiated that Ms. Fedida managed in a rough manner and, on occasion, used crass and inappropriate language.”
Rice also defended the network about the confidential settlements inside the network, “Lastly, the investigation found no basis for the claims that Ms. Fedida was the subject of dozen of HR complaints and that ABC News spent millions of dollars in confidential settlements related to Ms. Fedida, as alleged in some press accounts.”
What did Barbara Fedida Say?
Barbara Fedida was criticized for the network’s coverage of the death of George Floyd as well as the treatment of black candidates in hiring decisions. Upon extensive criticism, James Goldston, ABC News President placed Fedida on administrative leave. This was not the first time Fedida has received backslash. Starting from 2016, she has been subject to an extensive history of racism and misconduct within the network. A letter was written by journalists to ABC News in 2016 requested reforms to improve the treatment of black candidates in hiring decisions. One of the former employees, Mara Schiavocampo accused Fedida of racial discrimination. Schiavocampo had been raising issues with the management. As a result, her contract was not renewed at the network. She later agreed for a financial settlement with the network.
Another ABC News employee, Robin Roberts of Good Morning America requested for a pay rise on the show in 2018, Fedida then asked what more Roberts could want and said it wasn’t as if the network was asking Roberts to ‘pick cotton’.
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