ABC Called Out For Treatment of Mothers By One of Its Stars

For nearly three decades, ABC has been a core part of The Walt Disney Company. Over those years, the company has come out with a number of hit shows, including Abbot Elementary, How to Get Away With Murder, Grey’s Anatomy, The Goldbergs, Ugly Betty, and more. In addition to its scripted dramas and comedy shows, ABC has also produced Emmy-winning talk shows, including Good Morning America, World News Tonight, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, This Week With George Stephanopoulos, and The View.

The View was started in 1997 by iconic journalist Barbara Walters, where a group of notable women talk about and debate the hot topics of the day. The show has been a hit since it debuted, winning more than 30 Daytime Emmy Awards. Barbara Walters retired and left The View in 2014, but the show continued on and now consists of hosts Joy Behar (an original host), Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and controversial actress, Whoopi Goldberg.

Recently, The View had Paula Faris — a former host of the show — on as a Guest. Faris was promoting her new book, “You Don’t Have to Carry It All”, a book that focuses on how working mothers can balance their work and their home lives. She also discussed why society as a whole needs to focus more on the importance of mothers as mothers first.

During the segment, Alyssa Farah Griffin stated that many businesses may have trouble hiring and retaining workers if they don’t support working mothers, who are a key part of the workforce. Faris pointed out that working mothers are also voicing the will of a lot of workers — including the want for flexible hours and hybrid work locations, mainly brought into the discussion because of the pandemic.

The discussion about listening to workers and what they want prompted Goldberg to call out ABC directly. While many would never think to call out the company that employs them, especially on such a public platform, but Goldberg didn’t hesitate. She demanded ABC listen to mothers.

“You hear that ABC? We’re here, we can say this to you. You gotta pay more attention to the mothers. All the mothers.”

The move comes after Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the company would be laying off 7,000 workers. He did not say where the layoffs would be focused, but it is most likely they will be felt company-wide, from Walt Disney Studios to Marvel, ABC, LucasFilm, and more.

Disney has not made a statement regarding the comments made by Goldberg. Recently, Iger let employees know that they would have to return to the office at least four days per week, a decision that did not sit well with many.