According to his ABC biography, Matt Gutman joined the network in 2008. Since then he has reported from 40 different countries around the world, garnered multiple awards for his journalism, and for the last several years has been chief national correspondent for some of ABC's most important news programs, including "World News Tonight," "Good Morning America," and "Nightline."
Gutman is based in Los Angeles and was one of the first to report on the sudden death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant in January, 2020. As the news was still breaking and details about the tragedy, a helicopter crash that ultimately cost the lives of all nine people aboard, were still trickling out, Gutman reported that Bryant and all four of his children were among the dead. Social media was already aflame with grief for the Lakers star, which quickly turned into outrage about Gutman's erroneous report. He later apologized on the air.
Gutman apologized again on social media the next day. Then, a few days later, he apologized again, said CNN, accepting personal responsibility in a statement to the media. Unfortunately for him, ABC's leadership was not in a forgiving mood. "Reporting the facts accurately is the cornerstone of our journalism," said ABC in a statement to CNN. "As he acknowledged on Sunday, Matt Gutman's initial reporting was not accurate and failed to meet our editorial standards."
