'Good Morning America' Scandal Takes Another Turn

Good Morning America continues to be in trouble. Michael Corn, a former head producer on the show, asked that a New York State Supreme Court throw out a sexual assault suit against him. A former staffer filed a complaint against him, but Corn is alleging the claim is past the statute of limitations and that the allegations against him are false. Deadline is one of the media outlets to report the news.

In a memo attached to Corn's recent motion to dismiss a case says that the alleged 2015 sexual assault incident "fails as a matter of law because the statute of limitations for sexual harassment claims in New York is three years."

Kirstyn Crawford, who was one of Corn's subordinates at Good Morning America, sued him in August 2020. Crawford also claims that Corn and others retaliated against her for the suit. 

The woman is claiming that said ABC denied "her the job security and salary increase that she deserved" as a result of the suit she filed against Corn, her former boss. The media maven denies such. Crawford further alleges that ABC network executives were made aware of her complaints against Corn in 2017. She says they took no action.

Per Crawford, Corn sexually harassed her during a business trip to LA in 2015. At the time, Good Morning America was on location to cover the Academy Awards. 

In his memo, Corn calls the allegations "a shock." He adds that he and Crawford were "two were close friends and she had recently sought his advice as to whether to stay at ABC News." He says Crawford is seeking to impugn Corn "for her own gain."

In Crawford's suit, she says that Corn also sexually assaulted another staffer, Jill McClain. McClain however is not a plaintiff in Crawford's suit. Per Crawford, Corn groped McClain on two seperate occasions: once in 2010 and another in 2011. Corn's calls Crawford's suit and allegations "scandalous, and prejudicial," which he feels are meant "solely to harass and unduly prejudice Mr. Corn in the public eye."