What happened with Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer? Feud explored as new details emerge in documentary

Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything gives a closer look at the late broadcaster’s decades-long career while also exploring her rivalry with the longtime ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.

The legendary news anchors, who co-hosted 20/20 at one point, shared Cold War-esque animosity. According to Susan Page’s The Rulebreaker, a biography of Walters, the successful broadcaster first encountered Sawyer, an assistant White House press secretary at the time, in 1972 during President Nixon’s tour to China. However, their feud supposedly began more than a decade later when the ex-CBS journalist joined ABC.

Susan Page wrote in her book about the ABC News president bringing Diane Sawyer to the network and allowing her to co-host Primetime Live with Sam Donaldson. The former 60 Minutes anchor’s new TV program was supposedly a rival to Barbara Walters’ 20/20, which she considered a betrayal, per The Rulebreaker. According to Susan Page, The View co-host allegedly admitted (via Vanity Fair),

“‘Roone Arledge, who was my savior, was also my nemesis because he brought Diane over from ‘60 Minutes’ and pitted us against each other,’ she would say two decades later.”

Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything also emphasized Diane Sawyer’s hiring as the beginning of her feud with the 12-time Emmy-winning anchor. A former producer featured in the Hulu documentary recalled (via Us Weekly),

“Barbara did not know why Diane was hired to start a new news magazine within our home of ABC to compete with 20/20. There was a lot of talk about how that being a different 20/20, a better 20/20, a more alive 20/20 and more energetic 20/20.”

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Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer allegedly poached each other’s sought-after guests

Another former colleague of the award-winning broadcaster claimed that she was unhappy about Diane Sawyer’s arrival. Susan Page claimed in her book that Barbara Walters even attempted to steal her rival’s first guest on ABC News. Their rivalry continued throughout the ‘90s, with both trying to interview the most prominent guests and, in turn, poaching them from one another’s programs.

Connie Chung, who moved to ABC News in ‘97, recounted in a 2020 conversation with Andrew Goldman on The Originals podcast (via Ok! Magazine),

“When I got to ABC, both Diane and Barbara were in the same sort of arena of trying to get these big interviews. So when I tried to go after them, I was told I could not, that Barbara and Diane were the only ones who could compete for the interview, and I had to stand down. I said, 'Really?'”

Both broadcasters would later co-host the ABC News’ flagship newsmagazine, which marked a new chapter of their rivalry.

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Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer’s rivalry peaked when they co-anchored 20/20

The prominent ABC News hosts were given an opportunity to work together in 1998. According to Ira Rosen, Walters and Sawyer’s feud was at its peak when they co-anchored 20/20. He wrote in his book Ticking Clock (via Ok! Magazine),

“They fought over who greeted the TV audience and who said good night.”

According to Rosen, Barbara Walters was assigned to start the show, while Diane Sawyer was supposed to conclude each time. However, the producer recounted how Walters would add “good night” after her co-host’s last words on each episode. Rosen recalled that Barbara’s actions would infuriate Diane. He wrote,

“They even counted the number of words each one had, introducing the stories. [...] It was a total disaster.”

Rosen recounted what Diane once allegedly told him about Barbara.

“Diane looked at me and said, ‘I hate that woman. Don’t believe a word she says. She knifes me any chance she gets,’”

An interview with another producer in Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything alleged that the broadcaster secretly resented Sawyer. He said (via Us Weekly),

“Barbara watched Diane wearily because she was really in the same altitude as Barbara. Other correspondents were not a threat. Barbara secretly resented Diane for being younger. [They were] pitted against each other, which was either great management or diabolical.”

However, Walters, in an archival voiceover, claimed in the documentary that she didn’t have a feud with Diane.