Former New York tv anchor Steve Bartelstein, who was hired 10 months ago to co-anchor the new CBS 2 Morning News at 4:30 a.m. on WBBM-Ch. 2 in Chicago departed suddenly Friday according to the Chicago Tribune. Station officials wouldn't comment on the circumstances of his departure, only confirming that Bartelstein is no longer with the station. His picture and bio have been excised from the station's website.
Weekend anchor Jim Williams is filling in this week, alongside co-anchor Susan Carlson and weathercaster Megan Glaros.
"We are going to have fill-in anchors until we decide on a permanent replacement," said Shawnelle Richie, a CBS 2 spokeswoman.
The morning news show was launched in August to replace the short-lived "Monsters & Money in the Morning," which lasted seven months. Ratings for the new show have improved over last year but still lag the early local offerings from WMAQ-Ch. 5, WLS-Ch. 7 and Tribune Co.'s WGN-Ch. 9, according to officials.
Bartelstein, an Evanston native, has a history of colorful exits. In 2009, he resigned suddenly as anchor at WCBS-TV in New York after his paycheck was accidentally mailed to his home instead of being available for pick up at the station as usual, the New York Daily News said. A longtime anchor at WABC-TV in New York, he was fired in 2007 for sleeping through a newsbreak, according to the Daily News.
He was also reported to be involved in a seedy scandal in 2003 also at WABC TV New York. The following report is from the Portland Tribune in 2003 (Bartelstein had earlier been a sportscaster in Portland);
"Even though the early newscasts are winning the ratings battle in New York, things aren’t going well for him right now. He’s the central figure in a pretty juicy scandal.
“It’s been crazy,” Bartelstein said in a telephone interview from his newsroom Thursday. “Unbelievable.”
The New York Post reported this week that Bartelstein is being sued by two men, in separate cases, who accuse him of sexual harassment and stalking.
Actor Dan Levine claims that Bartelstein followed him to Boston and Denver, forcing him to switch hotels under an assumed name. According to the Post, “Levine’s case, filed Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges that Bartelstein ‘knowingly transmitted various communicable diseases to Levine,’ despite telling Levine that he was ‘disease free.’ ”
Levine also alleges that Bartelstein used crystal meth and crack ‘every day’ up to $2,000 worth of drugs per week, often between broadcasts.”
In June, the Post reported that Bartelstein was being sued by Roderick McCullom, a writer and producer at WABC-TV, who contends that Bartelstein created a hostile work environment by repeatedly propositioning him and then stalking him.
Bartelstein’s attorney, Ronald Fischetti, told the New York Daily News that he would file a countersuit against the producer, McCullom, for defamation. Bartelstein said countersuits will be filed against both men.
“This has been a real learning experience for me,” Bartelstein said. “But I’ve been lucky because I have great lawyers, and my bosses have been great. They have never taken me off the air.”
The Chicago Tribune's efforts to reach Bartelstein were unsuccessful.
Comments