Insider from television industry shares the outcome of a tense rivalry between ABC personalities David Muir and George Stephanopoulos

David Muir has won a nasty feud with his fellow ABC News star George Stephanopoulos, a respected TV insider says.  

Oliver Darcy, a former CNN star and founder of news site Status, told DailyMail.com that Muir, 53, has successfully seen-off Stephanopoulos, 64, to become undisputed king of the network.

‘David won,’ Darcy said on DailyMail.com’s Welcome to MAGAland podcast on Friday. 

‘There’s a reason that George Stephanopoulos does not play a role in the larger ABC news political coverage anymore. He was the lead man for a while and now it’s David Muir.’

Darcy explained that after years of fighting for power at the network, the two have settled into the new normal, where Muir is the main star.  

‘It’s not like an active feud. It’s sort of like North Korea and South Korea, like there’s a détente,’ he said. 

‘But like there’s not much love lost between those camps.’

Darcy noted that Stephanopoulos retains his areas of power at the network, where he is still highly respected.

But Darcy says Stephanopoulos is very much below Muir in the pecking order. 

‘It’s not to say that George doesn’t have his own real estate. He certainly does: he’s got his show that he hosts like once a month, he has Good Morning America, and he’s got his own production company that has a Disney deal,’ the media insider added.

David Muir is the winner of his legendary feud with George Stephanopoulos, according to media insider Oliver Darcy

While Muir is ABC News’ main man, Stephanopoulos has ‘his own real estate’ in the network

‘He’s doing great, but there’s certainly a feud between the two. And I think if anyone’s denying it, just kind of laughable. I would be embarrassed for them.

‘It’s a little absurd that anyone would even deny it because it’s well known in media circles inside ABC, certainly inside Disney, that there’s this feud between the two.’

Darcy spoke after ABC News previously insisted all was well between Muir and Stephanopoulos.

An ABC News spokesperson told DailyMail.com Friday: ‘There are far more important things going on in the world right now. This is nonsense.’ 

In December, Darcy reported on Status News that Muir and Stephanopoulos are barely seen together on screen anymore because of their disdain for each other. 

Darcy said there was ‘historic tension’ between the pair. 

That rivalry reportedly goes back to Muir’s rise at the network and Stephanopoulos resistance to being replaced by a younger journalist.

Status News’s Oliver Darcy spoke to DailyMail’s political reporter John Raasch and chief reporter Germania Rodriguez Poleo on Friday. Click here to listen.

ABC News stars David Muir and George Stephanopoulos have a had a ‘historic’ feud as they have competed for power at ABC News for years. They are seen with Diane Sawyer and James Goldston in 2014

Back in 2021, CNN reported that Disney boss Bob Iger flew from California to New York to broker a deal with Stephanopoulos after he threatened to leave ABC because younger rival Muir had been promoted to Chief Anchor.

Stephanopoulos was irate when Muir was given the responsibility of leading the network’s special coverage of breaking news stories and special events – a role Stephanopoulos had held since 2014.

The Good Morning America anchor served as White House Communications Director in the early 1990s for Bill Clinton. He joined ABC in 1997 and was given the Chief Anchor role in 2014. The network had never had one before.

When he found out that the Chief Anchor responsibilities were being handed over to Muir even though the title wasn’t, he threatened to walk, according to CNN. 

The rivalry between the two men dates back to 2014 when Muir replaced Diane Sawyer on what was then known as ABC World News. It is now called World News Tonight.

At the time, the World News anchor role was the most coveted in the organization and whoever filled it was considered top dog.

Muir retains that role and his ratings are good. His salary has not been disclosed, but is believed to be well into eight figures. 

Stephanopoulos’ last reported salary was $20 million a year, although he took an undisclosed pay cut in 2024. 

ABC News is said to consider Muir the network’s most valuable asset.

World News Tonight is the last big budget nightly news show fronted by a charismatic host groomed for greatness by his network.

ABC are said to hope that the recent demotion of Nora O’Donnell from CBS Evening News and Lester Hurst’s impending departure from NBC Nightly News will further bolster Muir’s popularity.  

Stephanopoulos was already hosting GMA and was leading it to enormous commercial success but wanted the World News Tonight role. He stayed on the morning schedule.

Muir was given the World News anchor job. He was considerably less experienced than Stephanopoulos at the time, so the Chief Anchor role went to the latter, as did the higher salary.