Anthony Scaramucci created a rather embarrassing situation for Stephen Colbert — by granting “exclusive” interviews to multiple outlets.
On Wednesday night, the host of CBS’s “The Late Show” announced with extravagant fanfare that he had landed the first interview with the Mooch since the former communications director’s express ouster from the White House.
Colbert said on his show, “I have an announcement right now about an actual exclusive interview that we’re going to have Monday. Everybody wants this fella, right? Everybody wants him. Nobody got him — but us.” He added, “I can’t believe it. We got the Mooch.”
But, sadly, Colbert doesn’t have the scoop after all. Shortly after Colbert’s announcement, ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos tweeted that he, in fact, has the exclusive first interview on his “This Week” show on Sunday.
On Thursday, Stephanopoulos tweeted, “Exclusive: I’ll sit down live with @Scaramucci for his first interview since being fired from the WH, this Sunday only on @ThisWeekABC.”
Network sources tell us that Stephanopoulos already had the interview booked before Colbert made his big reveal. We’re told the screw-up happened because Scaramucci’s team wasn’t “on the same page” — so multiple members of the Mooch crew brokered “exclusives” with different outlets without telling one another. (Perhaps it is for the best that Scaramucci isn’t coordinating communication for the president of the United States after all.)
We’re told Scaramucci — who has become a figure of fascination since his explosive run as White House communications director ended on July 31 after just 10 days — has a “large circle” of acolytes making such arrangements.
A rep for Scaramucci told us, “We think [Colbert and Stephanopoulos] are both great journalists, and Scaramucci is looking forward to both interviews. They’re very different and we think they complement each other well.”