Extra boss accused of creating a toxic workplace environment

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/extra-...ed-mario-lopez

The Daily Beast's Diana Falzone and Justin Baragona report that Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey, "who has run Extra with an 'iron fist' for 20 years, allegedly 'bullies' and 'screams at' staff and key on-air talent, makes herself the show’s top priority, treats Extra as 'her playground,' receives an exorbitant salary while the rest of the staff experiences 'dark weeks,' and leaves employees often feeling undervalued and ignored." She also runs the California-based show from her Florida home. The Daily Beast alleges that she threatened former Extra host Mario Lopez with pushing damaging personal stories about him if he did not re-sign with the show. “This was the most toxic and hostile workplace environment I’ve ever worked in,” one former Extra researcher told The Daily Beast. In 2019, The New York Times wrote about Gregorisch-Dempsey's decision to hire Billy Bush for his first TV job since his infamous Access Hollywood tape. She previously hired him in 2001. The Daily Beast says that since it started making inquiries, human resources has announced it would visit Extra on a weekly basis. “We are committed to creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for all employees. While conducting a thorough third-party investigation into the show, additional allegations were made and they will be reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation,” Warner Bros. Television Group wrote last month in a statement to The Daily Beast when first reached for comment about claims of a toxic workplace. “We have already begun taking appropriate action based on our findings, and once the investigation has concluded, we will take additional measures as needed.” Extra is the latest Telepictures show to come under scrutiny for alleged toxic behavior. Telepictures has a long history of toxic workplace allegations, form The Rosie O'Donnell Show to The Ellen DeGeneres Show to TMZ.

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More from the article:

Mario Lopez had co-hosted Extra for ten years when he was in the midst of renegotiating his contract in 2018. According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, the dialogue grew increasingly tense when it became apparent the TV star might bail for a competitor.

Before Lopez eventually bolted for top rival Access Hollywood, Gregorisch-Dempsey at one point told the former Saved by the Bell star and his manager Mark Schulman that she would leak personally damaging stories to the press about him in an effort to “ruin him,” four people familiar with a series of email and phone exchanges told The Daily Beast.

These insiders said that Gregorisch-Dempsey threatened Lopez with pushing out the negative press items, allegedly alluding to unsubstantiated rumors of infidelity or misconduct.

One current Extra employee recounted an email in which Gregorisch-Dempsey allegedly intimated to Lopez that she could “ruin” him if he did not re-sign with the program. Lopez “showed it to his manager, agent, and an attorney at his agent’s office,” the staffer said. “He told a lot of people about the email.”

Two additional sources familiar with the email confirmed that Gregorisch-Dempsey threatened Lopez if he left Extra, adding that the senior executive producer eventually apologized to the host as well as his wife.

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“That’s when Mario decided to leave,” claimed a current staffer with inside knowledge of the situation. “He told staff he couldn’t work with people like that. It is common knowledge among staff why Mario left: Lisa threatened him.”

Additionally, De Santis, the former Extra producer and Gregorisch-Dempsey’s nephew, recounted his aunt telling him about a phone call in which she told Lopez he was putting all of the show’s employees in jeopardy because NBC might not pick up Extra for another season if he left.

“Lisa told me she said some things (to Mario and his manager) she needed to apologize for and asked me to help her draft an apology to [Lopez’s wife] Courtney,” De Santis added.

Emails obtained and reviewed by The Daily Beast show Gregorisch-Dempsey apologizing directly to Schulman for a previous conversation, noting that her aggression was in part due to her belief that the show’s livelihood depended on Lopez remaining host.

“I thought about our conversation and I owe you an apology,” Gregorisch-Dempsey wrote to Schulman in early 2018. “I have and will always be ‘Team Mario.’ I have 120 people depending on Mario as our on air team leader for their livelihood. I will always fight for the show just as you are fighting for Mario’s best interest and I respect that.”

De Santis also claimed that he was tasked with drafting an apology on Gregorisch-Dempsey’s behalf to Lopez’s spouse. “After she made the threat to leak negative stories about Mario, Lisa asked me to help her draft an apology email to Mario’s wife Courtney,” he said. “Basically, Lisa was saying [to me] she wanted Mario to get #MeToo’d.”

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Daytime TV’s Dark Side: Former ‘TMZ on TV,’ ‘Ellen’ and ‘Rosie’ Employees Detail Abusive Work Culture

It was Moonves’ successor — former Telepictures president Jim Paratore, who died of a heart attack at 58 on a 2012 cycling trip in France — who is most frequently cited as the architect of the Telepictures culture. “He was a hothead from New Orleans,” recalls one Rosie staffer who describes Paratore as a “bully” who “set the tone for everyone else, barking and calling people ‘****ing idiots’ without regard for the humiliation or embarrassment of it happening in front of your peers.” But Paratore also had his fans, including Ellen DeGeneres herself, who credited him with reviving her career by convincing her to do a talk show; and staffers at TMZ on TV, which he helped run after stepping down from the top job at Telepictures. The sentiment there was that he “grounded” TMZ co-founder Levin and that “as soon as he passed, there was no angel to the devil.”

Paratore and Levin had developed a working relationship on Telepictures’ Celebrity Justice, a progenitor to TMZ that ran in syndication from 2002 to 2005. Another Justice producer, Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey, has been the Extra showrunner since 2000, and took her cues from her brash colleagues. “Lisa was tough, and sometimes she did Game of Thrones-type **** with the people she surrounds herself with,” recalls Steve Santagati, an Extra reporter in the early 2000s. “Back then, a lot of comments were made, and that’s part of the business. If your skin’s not thick, you get out.” Asked for comment, Gregorisch-Dempsey says: “Here’s who I am: focused, strong, fair and honest. I also happen to be a woman.”

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EXCLUSIVE: 'We were a helluva one-two punch!' Emmy-winning 'Extra' executive producer Lisa G is leaving the entertainment show after 22 years - as hosts Mario Lopez and Billy Bush gush over the 'trailblazer' who took a chance on them

• Senior Executive Producer Lisa Gregorisch Dempsey is leaving Extra in September, DailyMail.com can reveal
• Lisa G, as she is known, has overseen the show for the past 22 years
• 'Extra is such a wonderful show, we have a phenomenal team and I leave with so many great memories,' Lisa G tells DailyMail.com
• Extra host Billy Bush calls her trailblazing and says she will always hold a special place in his heart
• Veteran producers Theresa Coffino and Jeremy Spiegel will oversee Extra for the show’s 29th season once she steps down

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How Lisa G can say with a straight face she is fair and honest after threatening to slander Mario Lopez' reputation. However, his popularity might be overstated. I did not know he was on Access Hollywood, but my ABC affiliate removed it from their 7PM slot in March for yet another newscast (2.5 straight hours of news including the network version ). Since then Access Hollywood has been reduced to 7:30AM on My Network TV affiliate (owned by the same company, so their rights to it didn't expire either).

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WB Needs To Fix Their Repeated Failure to Resolve Claims of Toxicity

Warner Bros. has failed to create a culture that prevents or resolves toxic workplace issues, leading to multiple high-profile complaints.