ABC News

===1985 Marilyn Monroe scandal===
Scandal erupted in 1985 over a decision by Arledge, president of ABC News and Sports, to kill a 13-minute report about [[Marilyn Monroe]], possibly due to his close ties to [[Ethel Kennedy]]. ''20/20'' drew criticism from the program's co-anchors, Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters, and the executive producer, Av Westin. Arledge said that he had killed the piece because it was "gossip-column stuff" and "does not live up to its billing." Downs, however, took issue with Arledge's judgment. "I am upset about the way it was handled," he said in an interview. "I honestly believe that this is more carefully documented than anything any network did during Watergate. I lament the fact that the decision reflects badly on people I respect and it reflects badly on me and the broadcast."<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/05/arts/abc-monroe-report-cancellation-is-argued.html |title=ABC Monroe-Report Cancellation Is Argued |work=The New York Times |last=Smith |first=Sally Bedell |date=October 5, 1985 |access-date=August 9, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150524163722/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/05/arts/abc-monroe-report-cancellation-is-argued.html  |archive-date = May 24, 2015  }}</ref> Additionally, Westin said: "I don't anticipate not putting it on the air. The journalism is solid. Everything in there has two sources. We are documenting that there was a relationship between Bobby and Marilyn and Jack and Marilyn. A variety of eyewitnesses attest to that on camera." Two other aspects of the unaired report, according to an ABC staff member who has seen it, are eyewitness accounts of wiretapping of Monroe's home by [[Jimmy Hoffa]], the teamster leader, that reveal meetings between her and the Kennedy brothers, and accounts of a visit to Monroe by [[Robert F. Kennedy]] on the day of her death. Fred Otash, a detective who said he was the chief wiretapper, is interviewed on camera, and ABC staff members said three other wiretappers corroborated his account. In addition, several people not in the book say on camera that Monroe kept diaries with references to meetings with the Kennedy brothers, according to a staff member who has seen the report. "It set out to be a piece which would demonstrate that because of alleged relations between Robert Kennedy and [[John F. Kennedy]] and Monroe, the presidency was compromised because organized crime was involved," he said. "Based on what has been uncovered so far, there was no evidence."<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Arledge's decision to kill the broadcast resulted in the subsequent decision of [[Geraldo Rivera]] to leave ABC entirely. Rivera was a ''20/20'' correspondent but did not work on that story. He had been publicly critical of Arledge's decision. Arledge, a champion and defender of Rivera, said he thought the story needed more work. The story probed purported affairs between actress Marilyn Monroe, President John F. Kennedy, and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-23-mn-13843-story.html |title=Emmy-Winner Rivera to Resign as ABC Investigative Reporter |work=Los Angeles Times |last=Sharbutt |first=Jay |date=October 23, 1985 |access-date=August 9, 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210606181446/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-23-mn-13843-story.html  |archive-date = June 6, 2021  }}</ref>