Chris Albrechtthe former president of HBO and the current president of Legendary TVon administrative leave, according to the company.
Commentary comes as an imminent book, It’s Not TV: The Amazing Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO Written by Felix Gillett and John Coplin, it reveals new details about the way Albrecht allegedly disparaged the employee who left HBO after an HBO-brokered settlement. (Albrecht’s representative denies the allegations.)
A legendary spokesperson said on Monday that Albrecht had been given leave, and declined to comment further.
According to an initial draft of the book reviewed The Hollywood Reporter The authors detailed a previously reported claim that Albrecht strangled former executive vice president and rising star of HBO in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Albrecht’s representative denies the claim). According to the book, the incident, which allegedly occurred in her office in the summer of 1991, months after Albrecht and Emerson, who were married at the time, ended their consensual relationship. In the immediate aftermath, Emerson detailed the incident to a friend as well as to Michael Fox of HBO. No police report was submitted.
“After more than 30 years, a flawed story is now being refurbished and recycled for sales. I have sincerely apologized to those I offended with disrespectful behavior and totally unacceptable behavior. But this does not sell books and does not generate media interest. Some things age nicely. Indeed, Albrecht said in a statement to THR.
The book notes that Emerson, after mediating with HBO, took up a settlement and left the network. The settlement was never disclosed to the HBO board of directors and Emerson’s departure was never made public internally, according to the book. After that, Albrecht was taken to reporting to Bridget Potter. (A representative of Albrecht says the executive reporting structure has never changed and that he always reports to Potter.) Albrecht was at the time responsible for the originals and was working with Emerson on HBO Independent Productions (Rock, Martin).
It’s not TV1 November via Penguin Random House, reveals through extensive reporting and interviews with at least one witness that Albrecht may disparage Emerson in meetings with television writers and producers after she exits conduct that one staff member described as “despicable”. (Albrecht’s representative denies this claim.)
One television writer close to Emerson said in the book that HBO rewrote the narrative as it existed at the time with a “campaign to demonize” and portray her as a “messy and problematic person” because she had taken a “very unfair settlement.” Los Angeles Times mentioned In 2007 she received at least $400,000.
Emerson, who spoke with the book’s authors, said that years later she still couldn’t stand the feeling of anything constricting her throat, including the bike helmet strap.
In the book, Albrecht disagrees – through his attorney – with what happened in Emerson’s office in the summer of 1991. “He dismisses and disagrees with the characterization of what happened” and declines to make further comments.
The book also reconsiders Albrecht’s public arrest after she was seen strangling his then-girlfriend Carla Jensen in Las Vegas by police. The incident prompted Albrecht to resign from his role on HBO.
After a long and successful stint at Starz, Albrecht . was Promotion to operate Legendary Television in early 2021 when he was assigned to lead the international and domestic arms of the studio controlled by the Wanda Group. He first joined Legendary in December 2019 after being fired at Starz after 10 years leading the premium cable network. Sources at the time said infighting Between Albrecht and the new corporate fathers, Lionsgate led to his ouster. Since then, Albrecht has made deals with foreign companies to develop premium scripts and has handed over some local script deals because his tenure so far has been unremarkable. It’s also worth noting that at the time of his appointment to Legendary, a few creators and CEOs were talking about their unwillingness to work with Albrecht, whose past history with women had been the subject of coverage in newspapers as well as in the entertainment press. .
Updated at 7:03 PM PT: This story has been updated with a new statement from Albrecht.
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