Brad Bessey, executive producer of CBS Television Distribution’s Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, is departing, CTD confirmed on Sunday night.
In a statement to the staffs of both shows, Bessey said “this is a time of change” and “as part of this change, the company has made a decision: I will not be moving forward with Entertainment Tonight and The Insider.
“My existing contract was coming to an end at the beginning of the season and the thinking is by making this change now, in the middle of summer, it will be less disruptive to your work. In addition, this will give me flexibility to move forward with other opportunities.”
While CTD looks for a new executive producer, Rick Joyce will serve as interim EP and Erin Johnson will work closely with him. Joyce returned to ET as co-executive producer in April after being away from the show for a decade.
“These are two energetic professionals who will lead ET and Insider into the coming season,” said Joe Ferullo, executive vice president, current programming, CTD, in a statement to staff.
Bessey joined Entertainment Tonight in 1995 as coordinating producer. He was promoted to supervising producer in 2000, senior producer in 2003, and co-executive producer in 2005, overseeing a team of 2000.
In 2010, he left ET to become executive producer on CBS’ The Talk, returning to CTD in 2012 as executive producer of The Insider and then replacing Linda Bell Blue as EP of Entertainment Tonight in 2014.
