Sophia Michaels
As if ABC News needed more drama.
Just as “GMA3” is officially washing its hands of co-anchors T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach’s salacious love affair, another scandal is rocking one of the network’s flagship local news broadcasts.
Ken Rosato, longtime anchor of “Eyewitness News This Morning” on New York’s WABC 7, has been given the boot after allegedly making an off-color remark, Page Six has exclusively learned.
Rosato was off the air when he uttered the phrase, we’re told, but an insider told us his remark was picked up “on an open mic” and was “immediately let go.”
It’s unclear what Rosato said or when exactly he made the comment.
Another source would only say he was “fired for cause immediately.”
Rosato’s colleagues learned about the firing on Friday.
We’re told his co-anchors were brought in “one-by-one” for a talk about it, but management wouldn’t tell them what he said.
Our insider also doesn’t know what he uttered, but speculated that it could have been a “racial slur.”
A rep for Rosato sharply denied that, telling us: “Being fired for any racial slur is 100 percent inaccurate and untrue. Ken Rosato had a benchmark of 20 years at WABC of supporting all equality.”
On Friday, the station’s general manager alerted staffers via e-mail that Rosato “is no longer with WABC.”
“We thank him for his years of service,” they wrote.
Rosato joined “Eyewitness News” as a freelance reporter in 2003 and was promoted to morning and noon anchor in 2007.
He anchored “This Morning” with Shirleen Allicot, Heather O’Rourke, and Sam Champion.
A rep for ABC News did not get back to us.
The former anchor’s bio has been wiped from the company’s website. His daily tweets from the anchor desk stopped on May 2.
