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HBO Cancels Albrecht

Posted May 9th 2007 6:57PM by TMZ Staff

In the wake of his Las Vegas arrest this past weekend, HBO has decided to cut ties with Chairman and CEO, Chris Albrecht.

In a statement obtained by TMZ, Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard D. Parsons said:

"Jeff Bewkes (President and COO of Time Warner) and I believe that this is the right decision for the Company. We thank Chris for all of his contributions to Home Box Office over the years."

Albrecht, who had been with HBO for 22 years, says that he "agreed to step down ... recognizing that I cannot allow my personal circumstances to distract them from the business."

HBO Chief Operating Officer Bill Nelson will temporarily take over Albrecht's duties until a new CEO is appointed.

Albrecht was arrested over the weekend for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend outside the MGM Grand Casino after the prizefight between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Yesterday, Albrecht sent a letter to the HBO staff, which stated that he was "deeply sorry" for the Vegas incident, and revealed that he is a recovering alcoholic who had slipped.

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1. help us protest hilton hotels

www.myspace.com/hiltonhotelprotest

Posted at 7:00PM on May 9th 2007 by No drunk drivers

2. WHO CARES, NEVER HEARD OF HIM, HOW WILL THIS AFFECT MY LIFE?COME ON TMZ DON'T BE AFRAID TO DO A LITTLE WORK TO GET A REAL STORY, WELL WAIT I GUESS YOU CANNOT WRITE ABOUT PARIS EVERYTIME!!HOW ABOUT SOME DIRT ON SOMEONE WE NEVER HEARD OF AT NBC?

Posted at 7:10PM on May 9th 2007 by tucsonwaz

3. WOW!!! After 22yrs he's let go. I am happy to see him taking responsibility,
unllike Paris.

Posted at 7:09PM on May 9th 2007 by okay

4.

This would not have happened had the Imus scandal not erupted a few weeks ago. Now everybody is super sensitive!

www.gossipgonewild.com

Posted at 2:56AM on May 10th 2007 by GossipMonger

5. I suspect he will not be collecting unemployment......probably got a nice severance check. I'm sure there is some other reason for this.....like maybe they wanted to get rid of him anyway, etc. BTW: What is going on? These guys get some alcohol in them and they then start roughing up their women? Must be the thing to do!

Posted at 7:38PM on May 10th 2007 by Just an observer

6. All of corporate American is full of hypocrites! I feel terrible for this guy. 22 years and then... you are out! Disgusting. Is there no level of forgiveness left in America? Or does everyone think you MUST BE PERFECT IN AMERICA!!!

Posted at 8:59PM on May 9th 2007 by accountable

7. Damn that's a high price to pay for slapping his girlfriend. Could have just paid a professional girl in Vegas and had 100% cooperation.

Posted at 3:35AM on May 11th 2007 by DJ...from the Slap-A-Hoe Tribe

8. 1 spat over a 22 year span and HBO "cut ties" with him???
He did apologize, he didn't deny it.
Canceling HBO.

Posted at 7:35PM on May 9th 2007 by Not right

9. Do any of you really belive that his good and bad behavior ended that night? Nooooooo.....I'm sure there's more than we'll ever hear reported, at least on this site

Posted at 7:53PM on May 9th 2007 by San

10. This is huge news. CEO making millions of $$$ canned. Thank you TMZ
for making me aware of this news. I'm tired of all the spoiled rich kids getting
all the headlines

Posted at 7:57PM on May 9th 2007 by mary

11. It was a good call. he smacked her up good, maybe she deserved it, but he is a power figure in media and he just ate some humble pie. he could go to jail and get goosed watching HBO in the can....... LMMFAO.....

Posted at 8:10PM on May 9th 2007 by not right

12. I just heard this is the guy responsible for the cancellation of HBO's "Carnivale" It was the best show on tv. Glad he got cancelled too.l

Posted at 8:27PM on May 9th 2007 by alene fisher

13. There must be more to the story.

Posted at 8:29PM on May 9th 2007 by MoreToTheStory?

14. This is about his history of abusing women. The story came out about him choking Sasha Emerson (at his office no less) and it costing HBO $400,000 back in 1991 is what did him in. I heard the story about the HBO incident years ago, and then I see the same story in the LA Times today. You had to know Time Warner wouldn't/couldn't let him stay.

Posted at 11:54AM on May 10th 2007 by Fred

15. To # 9 (not right)

NO ONE DESERVES TO BE BEATEN!! Where the hell do you live? If you condone that, you are capable of doing it to a women. Shame on you!!! Would you laugh so hard if it had been someone you may be capable of caring about??

Posted at 8:51PM on May 9th 2007 by Barbara C

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