ABC

ABC is diving deeper into Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes' relationship to make sure the 'GMA3' co-anchors haven't violated any company policies during their whirlwind romance.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... ABC's human resources and legal departments are working together to look into all aspects of the high-profile co-workers hooking up. The goal is to determine if Amy and T.J. did anything to breach their contracts -- such as using company resources, like vehicles or drivers, to meet romantically ... or pressuring staffers to keep the relationship on the DL.

We're told some people at the network were upset about ABC News' President Kim Godwin's comments on Monday morning's editorial call -- when she said the couple did not violate company policies -- because the network hadn't yet taken a closer look.

Our sources say the review started to heat up internally last Friday when news broke of an alleged affair T.J. had with a former 'GMA' producer years ago.

We're told Godwin worked through the weekend with other executives before deciding to pull Amy and T.J. from the anchor's desk.

As we reported, Amy and T.J. were taken off the air Monday after Godwin called the situation an "internal and external distraction."

That part is clearly true, but again, other execs feel she went too far in telling the team there were no company policy violations -- we're told it was just too soon to know.

Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes' benching from the 'GMA3' anchor's desk has nothing to do with an alleged workplace affair he had several years ago with another producer ... TMZ has learned.

Amy and T.J. were noticeably absent Monday morning -- less than a week after news of their romance was made public. Network sources told us Thursday the two would not face disciplinary action for their relationship, as it was both consensual and they held similar titles on the show.

However, DailyMail published a story Friday alleging Holmes had an affair years ago with 'GMA' producer Natasha Singh, and many felt it was part of the reason he and Amy got yanked this week.

We've spoken with several sources connected to ABC who maintain the alleged affair with Singh had nothing to do with Amy and T.J.'s absence Monday -- adding no ABC rules were violated.

The sources echoed what we reported -- ABC News President Kim Godwin said on an editorial call Monday ... the decision to pull Amy and T.J. was to calm the "internal and external distraction" their relationship has caused.

'GMA' hosts T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach may have stunned the public and gained a whole lot of unwanted attention when their relationship was revealed to the masses ... but they've got no plans to slow down on their romance.

Sources close to the couple tell us ... while both T.J. and Amy, as well as their estranged spouses, are less than thrilled about the heightened scrutiny, they know it's only temporary. For that reason, we're told, T.J. and Amy remain committed to growing their relationship.

Our sources also say the pair's coworkers at 'GMA3' have remained unchanged in their day-to-day interactions with the anchors ... so there's not an issue there either.

Funny enough, Amy's parents are in NYC visiting this weekend -- a trip that was booked before the story of their relationship became public -- so we're told there's a good chance they'll hang with T.J.

Both Amy and T.J. have deleted their social media accounts, but our sources say it's not because they're ashamed of their relationship ... it's more to blunt the online harassment and nasty comments from trolls.

T.J. and Amy have, mostly, remained silent ... but T.J. joked Friday about wanting to extend the week, while Amy said he was speaking for himself ... sounds like she's more than ready for the weekend.

T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach, coanchors of 'GMA3,' will not be disciplined over their romantic relationship ... TMZ has learned.

Network sources tell TMZ ... Amy and T.J. did nothing to warrant punishment. They are 2 consenting adults on equal levels in the company and have a right to date who they want. One network source adds ... the fact they were on the air Thursday -- the day after DailyMail broke the story -- should telegraph to everyone, neither will suffer any consequences.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Amy actually went to ABC execs several YEARS ago to dispel rumors she and T.J. were a thing. She knew the building was abuzz with talk they had hooked up, but Amy assured her bosses they were just friends -- though best friends.

As for the timeline, we're told both T.J. and Amy separated from their spouses in August, just weeks apart from each other, and "shortly thereafter" began a romantic relationship.

We're told Amy and T.J. planned to make their relationship public in several weeks, because Amy's divorce from Andrew Shue will become final in around 2 weeks. They were blindsided by the DailyMail photos that were published Wednesday.

Until the DailyMail story broke Wednesday, they had told no one about their relationship, including execs at ABC.

Our sources say both Amy and T.J. will be on the air Friday, but we're told there are no plans for them to talk about their relationship.

Ellen Pompeo is officially bidding farewell to "Grey's Anatomy" ... the series lead just said goodbye after reports of her leaving the long-running drama.

Ellen made the announcement Thursday on social media, saying she's "eternally grateful and humbled by the love and support," she's received the last 19 seasons playing Meredith Grey on the ABC show.

In her goodbye post, Ellen naturally thanked the fans and said they are the ones who made her run on 'Grey's' so fun and iconic.

As fans of the show already know, a teaser for the upcoming "Grey's Anatomy" midseason premier shows Ellen's character saying her goodbyes to her fellow doctors as she moves away from Seattle and heads to Boston. There were also earlier reports of Ellen scaling back her role to only 8 episodes on the current season 19, and she's so far appeared in 7 episodes.

Ellen's appeared in over 400 episodes during a long run on the series, and while there were recent rumors she might reunite with former 'Grey's' costar Patrick Dempsey on a new show, Patrick shot the reports down.

Matthew Perry revealed the depth of his addiction in an interview Friday night, and it was shocking.

Perry, who told Diane Sawyer during the run of "Friends" he would sometimes pop 55 Vicodin pills a day, said in real life he traded out friends for drug dealers who helped fuel his habit.

Matthew said he would sometimes go to realtor open houses, beeline it for the bathroom and rummage through medicine cabinets looking for pills. He felt safe, because, as he said, "I think they thought, 'Well, there's no way that Chandler came in and stole from us.'"

You may recall ... during the "Friends" reunion show earlier this year, Perry seemed to slur his words and seemed out of it.  Matthew said he had just had major dental surgery ... one of many surgeries that had some connection to his drug use.

Matthew Perry was brought to tears looking back at how his addiction to pills and alcohol caused his weight to fluctuate ... and he feels sorry for his former self.

The "Friends" star got super emotional in his ABC special with Diane Sawyer, crying when they played a clip of him on the sitcom looking super skinny.

Matthew estimates he was 155 lbs. in the clip and he says it illustrates the toll his addiction to pills took on his body ... he says the drugs squashed his appetite and he lost a ton of weight to the point where it was unhealthy.

MP told Diane his weight dipped as low as 128 lbs and says, at the time, he was "out of control" and didn't know what was going on.

Matthew says he also gained weight when he was drinking heavily ... and looking back he feels sorry for himself in those moments. ABC plays clips of Matthew on "Friends" and it's clear how much his weight was changing from season to season while he was in the throes of addiction.

As we reported ... Matthew also opened up about how he was able to break the cycle of addiction after 6,000 AA meetings and 15 stints at rehab facilities.

For Matthew, he says the people around him helped keep him on the straight and narrow ... and he singles out Jennifer Aniston for being there for him during "Friends" and after.

Olivia Newton-John's publicist is fuming the late singer and actress was excluded from the "In Memoriam" tribute at the Emmys ... insisting she absolutely deserved to be honored.

Michael Caprio, Olivia's publicist of 24 years, tells TMZ ... while the family is still grieving and not commenting at this time, he was personally very disappointed by the snub.

Michael feels the decision wasn't right, given Olivia's extensive track record in Hollywood and especially on TV ... including acting in TV movies like "A Mom For Christmas" as well as appearing on "American Idol," "RuPaul's Drag Race," "Murphy Brown," "Glee" and 'DWTS.'

He also noted, Olivia had ton of TV specials like ABC’s "A Special Olivia Newton-John" and "Olivia Physical."

ICYMI, the 2022 Emmys faced a ton of backlash when viewers noticed Olivia and other stars were left out of the annual segment dedicated to stars who died within the last year.

The tribute included legends such as Betty White, Bob Saget, Ray Liotta, Anne Heche and Sidney Poitier ... and naturally folks were shocked after noticing Olivia was missing.

As we've reported, Olivia died in August -- at the age of 73 -- after a long battle with breast cancer, and, obviously, was a household name in Hollywood and around the world.

The lead man on "The Bachelorette" has a blackface controversy that's dogging him -- and a couple of former Black contestants have mixed reactions on how he should proceed.

We got former 'Bachelorette' stars Olumide Onajide and Riley Christian in NYC Tuesday to weigh in on Erich Schwer donning dark makeup back in high school to make himself look like Jimi Hendrix.

Olumide tells us he's on the fence over Erich's apology ... especially with the history of blackface and what it means for African-Americans. Still, he doesn't think the dude had bad intentions in his heart -- and thinks he might still have a chance with Gabby Windey.

Riley also acknowledges the painful connotations of blackface ... saying he can't believe it's still being done in this day and age (he ain't alone there).

But on the issue of forgiveness, RC says it's certainly achievable for Erich ... especially if he's genuinely sorry and can learn from this mistake. It sounds like he and Olumide are on the same page on how to proceed -- let the show go on, and allow Gabby to decide what she wants to do.

As we reported, the old photo of Erich dressed as Hendrix for Halloween resurfaced during this season -- which was shot a while ago. He apologized for it, citing ignorance and naivete ... claiming he wasn't aware how offensive it was at the time.

American actress Sarah Utterback was 23 years old when she first started playing the role of nurse Olivia Harper -- the nurse at Seattle Grace Hospital known for being awkward and snarky -- on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" from 2005 to 2009.

Sarah shared the screen with Ellen Pompeo as the feisty and serious doctor, Meredith Grey, Patrick Dempsey as the warm and charismatic doctor, Derek Shepherd, Katherine Heigl as the compassionate doctor, Izzie Stevens and Sandra Oh as the ambitious doctor, Cristina Yang.

Sarah made a stop at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and reprised her role in 2018.

Jeff Garlin is leaving ABC's hit show "The Goldbergs" ... but it sounds like he was going to be fired on the heels of a human resources probe into allegations he'd been "emotionally abusive" and intimidating to staffers.

Garlin had one more day, at most, of shooting the current season, but won't get to finish up ... according to Deadline, which broke the story and reports a mutual agreement was reached for Garlin's exit.

In a Vanity Fair interview, Garlin talked about some of the accusations and confirmed he had been involved in HR probes -- one, in particular, about him using the word "vagina." He claimed he was just being "silly" ... as a comedian.

However, Garlin allegedly retaliated by repeatedly saying the word to the camera assistant who filed a complaint about him saying it the first time.

Other witnesses on set claimed he abused his power to intimidate, embarrass and belittle a couple that worked together on the show -- and according to Deadline that was the last straw.

Alec Baldwin's claim he's not responsible for Halyna Hutchins' death is not echoed by the woman leading the "Rust" shooting investigation -- instead, she says Baldwin, and several others, could still be charged for their roles in the tragedy.

During his sit-down with George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin said he didn't feel guilt over what went down. As he put it, "Someone is responsible for what happened and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me."

Well, Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies isn't ready to clear his name, criminally, just yet. She tells TMZ ... "Everyone involved in the handling and use of firearms on the set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected, and it appears that certain actions and inactions contributed to this outcome."

Her Office, along with the Sheriff's Dept., hasn't completed their probe yet ... and she's making it clear no decisions have been made about exactly who could be charged. She says, "Once I have had the opportunity to review the complete investigation, certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust."

And, there's this ... Baldwin's explanation for how he fired the fatal shot isn't holding water with weapons expert Steve Wolf, who says the "no trigger" theory IS possible -- but there were several other mistakes made on the set.

Steve's been working with munitions and props for TV and film for decades, so he was particularly interested in Baldwin's claim that the replica antique revolver he was holding fired without him pulling the trigger.

Steve was on Friday's "TMZ Live" when he held up a similar handgun and demonstrated exactly what Baldwin described. He pulled back the hammer on the weapon, but unlike Alec claimed ... Steve says it's just not possible for the hammer to strike and fire a bullet without the trigger getting engaged. Not normally, anyway.

He admitted there are 2 possible exceptions -- first, there could have been a mechanical flaw ... and the other possibility has to do with how the weapon was manufactured.

The Colt .45 Baldwin was using is a replica of an 1873 revolver, and it could have been made without a safety feature that is standard on such weapons now, but wasn't back in the 19th century.

Alec Baldwin says he never pulled the trigger on the gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and followed her instructions to point the gun at her, not knowing there was live ammunition in the chamber.

Baldwin says he pointed the gun at her as directed ... cocked it and let go of the hammer and that's when the gun went off. He says he never touched the trigger. Assistant Director Dave Halls backed Baldwin up and says Baldwin never had his finger on the trigger.

Baldwin says the only issue for him is how live ammunition got into the chamber of the gun. He says he was told it was an "empty gun" -- meaning only dummy bullets.

When the gun fired and Halyna fell to the ground, Baldwin says he didn't know for 45 minutes to an hour she was hit by a live round. He thought maybe Halyna got hit by wadding typically found in blanks.

Baldwin felt people waited too long to get her to a hospital. A helicopter finally came and took her to a hospital.

The Sheriff eventually told Baldwin Halyna had died. The photos of Baldwin outside on the phone are when he called his wife to tell her what happened.

Baldwin says George Clooney didn't help the situation by commenting that he always checked a gun that he handled on set. Baldwin was clearly annoyed at Clooney. He says he's always relied on the experts -- like the armorer -- on the set that a gun was safe to handle.

Baldwin does not believe the live ammo on the set was an act of sabotage ... something claimed by the lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. He says this was an accident.

Baldwin says he hates that Reed and Halls have been villainized unfairly, he believes.

He also doesn't discount his brother Daniel -- who told TMZ he believed Baldwin was targeted for his political beliefs. He mentions Donald Trump, who went after Baldwin.

Baldwin said he was not a nuts-and-bolts producer who made hiring decisions ... rather, he says he was a "creative producer" -- meaning his role was more about content. This is significant ... given the allegations, Reed was way too inexperienced to be an armorer and Halls had safety issues on previous sets.

He says he was never told by the crew they had safety concerns ... he says the complaints were along the lines of grousing they wanted better hotels.

Alec Baldwin says he didn't pull the trigger on the gun that killed Halyna Hutchins, the first time we've heard him make the new claim, and leaving many more questions to be answered.

The actor is speaking out about the 'Rust' tragedy in his first sit-down interview, which will air Thursday on ABC. The network just released a teaser for what is to be discussed, and there's a lot to unpack -- including his claim that he didn't squeeze the trigger.

In a nearly 2 minute clip, you hear anchor George Stephanopoulos peppering Baldwin with questions -- and it sounds like he's asking everything that most everybody has wondered about this story ... and Alec seems to respond to much of it, oftentimes in emotional terms.

One question revolves around the alleged fact that Alec pulling the trigger during the rehearsal that day was not called for in the script ... at least according to people who've sued over this so far.

Immediately in response, Alec is heard saying ... "Well, the trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger." GS seems stunned, but AB insists he'd never point a gun at someone and fire. Of course, this would mean Baldwin is suggesting the gun misfired on its own.

There's not much clarity on what Alec means exactly -- but we suppose everyone will get the answer when this chat hits the airwaves tomorrow.

Adam Trent is one of the best in the biz when it comes to the ol' abracadabra -- but he's just as magical when he gives his gift to others, which is what he's doing for a new TV special.

We spoke to the veteran magician about his new ABC special, "The Magic Maker," and it's all about him helping ordinary people wow loved ones with out-of-this-world feats that deceive the eyes.

Of course, Adam and the network had to figure out who exactly was deserving of getting crowned with an honorary magician's hat ... and he explains how that process worked.

Sounds like Adam and co. did, in fact, hone in on the best sorts of people -- everyone from children's doctors to firefighters and service members ... and even head over heels in love folks.

That last mention is a nod to what looks like an incredible stunt Adam was somehow able to pull off with a guy proposing to his GF ... leading up to it with a walk on water that seems way too real to believe.

That's just one of the many incredible magic tricks Adam teaches others ... and he did it live, on camera. The special was obviously pre-taped, but word is -- all the tricks were performed front and center without any assistance from video editing.

Meghan McCain is pissing off some of her old bosses with her scathing assessment of her tortured time on "The View" -- because they believe it's the exact opposite of how she's framing things.

Sources close to the production tell TMZ ... ABC honchos are furious about Meghan's new memoir, and the subsequent interviews she's recently done -- characterizing "The View" as a toxic work environment, full of coworkers/cohosts who despised her.

We're told there are many points of dissent -- for instance, ABC execs say the notion Meghan left on her own volition is wrong, and ditto for her claim everybody except her was oozing toxicity.

Our sources tell us Meghan was essentially forced out of her role after an internal investigation into the environment she describes -- which we're told was, in fact, real ... but mostly due to Meghan's behavior on and off camera, not her coworkers' -- other way around.

Our sources say new ABC chief, Kim Godwin, did a thorough investigation -- meeting with key stakeholders of the show, like talent and producers -- and in the end, we're told she found Meghan was the source of a lot of the in-fighting that ultimately played out on the show ... something Godwin had to address head-on in an emergency Zoom meeting.

Those on-camera blow-ups are well-documented, and even though a lot of the hosts are often seen bickering ... we're told many at ABC feel Meghan was, more often than not, the instigator of these arguments -- or she was the one who kept them going longer.

We should say, however, there are some execs at ABC who have confided in TMZ, telling us the environment was hostile and the bullying is what led to McCain's exit ... so clearly, not all honchos feel the same way.

As for her departure ... our sources didn't have details on the negotiations behind the exit, but we're told the bottom line is it wasn't simply her decision after hitting a breaking point. The network was ready to move on too.

Of course, we're told this was a long time coming ... as many at ABC apparently felt the old boss, James Goldston, didn't have the stones to give MM the boot earlier, because he allegedly feared a conservative backlash.

Now that Meghan's gone ... our sources say the mood on set is way better, and people at home can see it for themselves. The temperature in the room, we're told, has lowered. Not just that, but the ratings are steady ... with the show remaining #1 on daytime TV.