Legendary Leisure President Chris Albrecht has been placed on administrative depart after particulars of a 1991 incident throughout his tenure at HBO surfaced in an upcoming guide.
A consultant at Legendary confirmed that Albrecht is on depart, which was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Legendary had no different touch upon the matter. However the motion by the corporate comes on the heels of revelations in a soon-to-be-published historical past of HBO that recounts how the community paid a settlement of no less than $400,000 to a different government, Sasha Emerson, after she alleged that Albrecht shoved and choked her.
On the time of the 1991 incident, Emerson was a senior vice chairman at HBO Unbiased Productions and reported on to Albrecht, who was head of programming. The pair had been in a consensual affair exterior of their marriages.
The guide, “It’s Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO” by Felix Gillette and John Koblin, studies that Albrecht allegedly disparaged Emerson in conferences on the community, then owned by Time Warner, after she exited.
The guide additionally alleges that the HBO board was by no means informed of the settlement and that the departure of Emerson from the corporate was not defined internally.
Albrecht, 70, denied the brand new particulars within the guide in an announcement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“After greater than 30 years an previous, flawed story is now being refurbished and recycled for the sake of gross sales. I’ve sincerely apologized to these whom I offended with disrespect and completely unacceptable conduct. However that doesn’t promote books or generate media consideration. Some issues do certainly age properly; however dangerous reporting doesn’t,” Albrecht mentioned.
Albrecht’s suspension comes months after non-public fairness big Apollo World Administration and affiliated funds agreed to make a $760-million investment within the Burbank-based firm in trade for a minority stake.
The corporate didn’t disclose the valuation, however individuals aware of its funds final 12 months mentioned Legendary’s worth was about $2 billion.
Albrecht was a massively successful executive at HBO, main the community into its period of artistic dominance within the tv trade with such hits at “The Sopranos.”
The Queens, N.Y., native finally stepped down as chairman of HBO after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend in 2007. Police broke up an altercation exterior the MGM Grand Lodge in Las Vegas between Albrecht and the girl. On the time, he admitted to a consuming drawback.
The incident with Emerson, who by no means filed a police report, was not reported till Albrecht’s 2007 arrest.
Albrecht went on to develop into chief government on the premium cable TV community Starz, a place he held from 2010 to 2019. He joined Legendary Leisure in late 2019.
Instances employees author Ryan Faughnder contributed to this report.
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