Don’t Ignore The Stunning Conflict of Interest in Savannah Guthrie’s Interview with Johnny Depp Legal Team

You might have missed it because it’s getting little coverage, but NBC host Savannah Guthrie got away with a glaring conflict of interest on the Today show.

Last week, Guthrie admitted just before interviewing actor Johnny Depp’s legal team – Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew – that her husband Michael Feldman did PR consulting for that team, which earlier this month won a defamation suit against Depp’s ex-wife actress Amber Heard.

“A quick disclosure, my husband has done consulting work for the Depp legal team, but not in connection with this interview,” she said.

While the disclosure is appreciated, it’s really the bare minimum. Why Guthrie was conducting the interview in the first place remains confounding.

Even worse, Guthrie failed to give that disclosure on other occasions in which she covered the story, including during her June 2 interview with Heard lawyer Elaine Bredehoft and again during her interview with Heard, released last week.

This wasn’t the first time the issue arose. In 2017, Guthrie co-authored a children’s book with Allison Oppenheim, wife of NBC News President Noah Oppenheim, titled Princesses Wear Pants.

Having a relationship in which a subordinate co-authors a book with a superior’s wife certainly raises eyebrows in any workplace, and would clearly jeopardize trust among employees in the newsroom. Relationships between bosses and subordinates should be purely professional, as we saw in the case of Jeff Zucker, who resigned as CNN chief in February after failing to disclose a personal and romantic relationship with a subordinate.

At the end of the day, where is NBCUniversal Chief Compliance Officer Christine Coogan? (The book was published before Coogan began her current role.) Coogan’s silence and lack of action are inexcusable.

In journalism, conflicts of interest, no matter how big or small, should be avoided. Especially as public trust in the media is extremely low, media outlets need to ensure that there will be no problems with journalists and anchors being ensnarled in issues that are of interest to readers and viewers.

From George Stephanopoulos to Chris Cuomo to Zucker to Guthrie, conflicts of interest have only hurt the reputation of the press. Guthrie’s lack of judgment should be a cause for concern for NBC News, which should take steps to avoid what Guthrie did from happening again.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.