It’s easy to think that T.J. Holmes’ bosses at ABC wouldn’t be happy that his estranged wife publicly accused him Wednesday of showing “a lack of discretion, respect and sensitivity” to her and their 9-year-old daughter by flaunting his romance with “GMA3” co-host Amy Robach, especially over the holidays.
In a statement issued by her divorce attorney, Marilee Fiebig hit out at the way Holmes has conducted himself in the wake of news about his romance with Robach and the end of their 12-year marriage.
“During the holiday season and in light of the challenging times, Marilee’s sole focus has remained on the overall best interest of her 9-year-old daughter,” Fiebig’s attorney Stephanie Lehman said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
T.J. Holmes's wife, Marilee Fiebig, called out his "lack of discretion, respect and sensitivity" in her first comments since Holmes's relationship with his "Good Morning America" co-host Amy Robach was made public. https://t.co/XFUK5Q5gpn
— Yahoo (@Yahoo) January 4, 2023
“To that end T.J.’s lawyer and I have been working together to move their divorce forward privately, expeditiously and as amicably as possible,” Fiebig said, according to the lawyer’s statement. “Notwithstanding, we continue to be disappointed by T.J’s lack of discretion, respect and sensitivity toward Marilee and the party’s daughter.”
T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach have made little attempt to hide their relationship and were pictured last week kissing on midwinter break in Miami.
▶️ https://t.co/J47kJAvtcm#Christmas #TJHolmes #amyrobach #GMA #GMA3 #amyrobachgma #amyrobachtjholmesaffair #goodmorningamerica pic.twitter.com/OLzn5REGAB
— Daily Blast LIVE (@dailyblastlive) January 4, 2023
The Daily Mail first broke the news in November that Holmes, 45, and Robach, 49, were having an affair while married to other people. The tabloid published photos of the amorous ABC personalities engaged in PDA while out and about in New York City and on a weekend getaway in upstate New York. Revelations about the romance, and reports that the co-hosts initially denied it to their ABC bosses, led to the network suspending them from “GMA3,” the network’s lunchtime extension of “Good Morning America.”
Since then, there’s been no news about if or when Holmes and Robach will return to the air, Glamour reported. Robach also has begun divorce proceedings to end her 12-year marriage to “Melrose Place” actor Andrew Shue, while she and Holmes have stopped trying to keep their romance private, the Daily Mail said.
Over the holidays, Holmes filed for divorce from Fiebig, while he and Robach were seen enjoying lunch together in New York, embracing at the Atlanta airport and kissing and laughing as they headed into a restaurant in Miami Beach, the Daily Mail and TMZ photos show. The pair can’t seem to keep their hands off each other in the Miami photos, Glamour reported.
“I can only imagine how Marilee felt about that,” a friend told the Daily Mail. “And to think, Marilee once considered Amy a close, trusted friend and part of her sisterhood. Such betrayal.”
News of Holmes and Robach’s romance has exploded into a weeks-long tabloid melodrama and a major PR crisis for ABC. The situation has left media analysts mystified, given that Robach and Holmes were, at best, “minor” morning show personalities, as Puck writer Dylan Byers said.
They also are consenting adults who didn’t “explicitly” violate company policy, Byers said. Then again, any seasoned media executive should have immediately known that news about their romance would create “internal and external distractions” for the network.
It didn’t help that the New York Post subsequently published reports alleging that Holmes also had affairs with a married “Good Morning America” producer and another ABC News staffer, creating more bad optics for him, Robach and “GMA3,” which is supposed to be an uplifting, controversy-free daytime show.
Byers also reported that all ABC News employees sign contracts that say they will “act at all times with due regard to public morals and conventions.” Employees also must acknowledge they can be terminated for behavior that brings the company “into public disrepute … scandal or ridicule … or which reflects unfavorably upon us.”
Now that Fiebig has spoken out forcefully about the pain Holmes has caused her and their daughter, it’s fair to wonder whether ABC would want him and Robach back on “GMA3” or what their future at the network could be.
Fiebig doesn’t seem averse to letting the public — and perhaps Holmes’ bosses — know what she thinks of his behavior and the hurt she believes it has caused to both their families and children.
In addition to issuing her statement, she also “liked” a somber Instagram photo shared by Andrew Shue’s son, Nate. The photo showed a family portrait of Nate Shue, his father and two young brothers experiencing what could be their first holidays in more than a decade without Robach, their stepmother.
“RIDERS ON THE STORM. ON TO ‘23,” the photo was captioned.
Andrew Shue’s son posts a somber family portrait without stepmom Amy Robach amid T.J. Holmes romance | https://t.co/oXEE97fTSS
— Metro COLA (@MetroCOLA) December 31, 2022
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