As Ben Sherwood heads West, his East Coast colleagues sent him off in style last night at the Nomad Hotel in New York’s Flatiron District. Sherwood, named co-president of Disney/ABC TV in March, is moving his family to Los Angeles.
Insiders tell us heartfelt toasts were given by Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Lara Spencer. Sherwood got a big laugh when he promised Stephanopoulos a reality show, detective comedy or both.
And there were gifts: Sherwood was given a framed golden headset to remind him of his days in the control room — with the label “break in case of emergency,” while the whole family got ABC News Extreme Weather Team jackets — with “Sherwood” embroidered on the back.
Sherwood’s had three stints with ABC News, starting in 1989 as a producer at “Primetime Live.” After a run at “NBC Nightly News,” Sherwood returned to ABC in 2004 for a two-year stint as EP of “Good Morning America.” Sherwood turned to writing, penning three best-sellers, one of which was turned into a major motion picture. In 2010, he returned to ABC as News president.
Also in attendance, James Goldston, who is Sherwood’s successor as president of ABC News; ABC News executives Barbara Fedida, Susan Mercandetti, Tom Cibrowski, Marc Burstein, Michael Corn, David Sloan, John Green, Almin Karamehmedovic, Jonathan Greenberger, Morgan Hertzan, Terry Wrong, Rudy Bednar, Danielle Rossen and Subrata De.
Also, correspondents and anchors Ginger Zee, Amy Robach, Rebecca Jarvis, Deborah Roberts, Gio Benitez, Lindsey Davis , Bob Woodruff, Pierre Thomas, Martha Raddatz, David Kerley, Sara Haines and Mara Schiavocampo.
Sherwood thanked everyone for traveling from faraway places “and staying up past their bedtimes,” including his two young sons and the “GMA” anchors. He saluted ABC Newsers for their “tireless drive to do great journalism and raise the bar even higher.” He said ABC News has an indispensable place on the network and that ABC News is in great hands with Goldston and his team.