This is a scandal that’s been brewing for years, and now it’s finally coming to light. T.J. Holmes, a correspondent for ABC News, has been accused of engaging in an affair with a script coordinator that was 13 years his junior.
According to an anonymous source, the affair took place in 2015 while Holmes was still married to his now-estranged wife, Marilee Fiebig. The source claims that the 24-year-old script coordinator, Jasmin Pettaway, reached out to Holmes as a mentor, but felt uncomfortable and used after the relationship turned sexual.
“It was Jasmin’s first real job in television, and it was a big deal for her. She was looking for a mentor and she reached out to several people. T.J was someone who was responsive, but he absolutely abused the position of trust,” the source said.
The source claims that Holmes was often on the same shift as Pettaway, and that the two would often grab drinks together. On one occasion, the source says that Holmes “got handsy” in a very public place. The source also claims that the affair lasted for several months, and included Holmes visiting Pettaway at her apartment.
The source went on to shockingly say, “I don’t know how long that had been going on before it got sexual, but I do know the first time it did was in his office, and he was about to go on air in a couple of hours.”
Pettaway later left ABC in 2016 and moved back to her hometown of Cleveland. She is now an award-winning casting producer for ITV America, married, and the founder of the digital women’s lifestyle brand, Lemon-Love. When asked about her departure from New York, she said it was due to a “mixture of insecurity, loneliness, and some naïvete.”
The source also claims that Holmes’s “reckless” behavior was not limited to his relationship with Pettaway. There are reports of him making unwanted advances towards a network intern, as well as his now-infamous affair with GMA host Amy Robach.
Holmes’s rep did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment, and it’s unclear what the repercussions of this scandal will be for him. However, ABC executives have made a decision to remove Holmes and Robach from their employment as anchors on GMA3.
