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ABC News suspends reporter who reported that all 4 of Kobe Bryant's daughters were killed in helicopter crash
January 30, 2020
So very wrong
ABC News suspended chief national correspondent Matt Gutman after he erroneously reported on the deaths of basketball legend Kobe Bryant and all four of his daughters.
Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed in a Sunday helicopter crash in California that also claimed the lives of seven of the Bryant family's friends.
Neither the other daughters nor his wife were on board during the fatal crash.
What are the details?
ABC suspended Gutman, 42, after he reported that all of the Bryant family daughters died in the crash.
Gutman issued an apology following the mishap. On Twitter, he wrote, "Today I inaccurately reported it was believed that four of Kobe Bryant's children were on board that flight. That is incorrect. I apologize to Kobe's family, friends, and our viewers."
ABC confirmed the suspension in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
"Reporting the facts accurately is the cornerstone of our journalism," the statement read. "As he acknowledged on Sunday, Matt Gutman's initial reporting was not accurate, and he failed to meet our editorial standards."
The spokesman did not reveal the details of Gutman's suspension.
In a further statement to the Times, Gutman added, "We are in the business of holding people accountable. And I hold myself accountable for a terrible mistake, which I deeply regret. I want to personally apologize to the Bryant family for this wrenching loss and any additional anguish my report caused."
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