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‘Abbott Elementary’ star Janelle James takes aim at the ‘GMA3’ scandal with her trademark wit

'Happy Friday, y'all!'

Janelle James attends the Red Carpet of the 2nd Annual HCA TV Awards - Broadcast & Cable at The Beverly Hilton on August 13, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California.
Rodin Eckenroth/Stringer/Getty Images

The world reacted with shock this week when GMA3 anchors T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach were removed from their posts following reports of a months-long affair. But even more unfortunately for Holmes and Robach, who may or may not now be unemployed in addition to dealing with the personal fallout, that shock has taken a decidedly mocking turn, and Abbott Elementary star Janelle James became the latest to pile on Friday afternoon.

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James, who plays the unserious, image-obsessed elementary school principal on the ABC sitcom, took a bold shot at her own network with an Instagram throwback of herself and Holmes in less controversial times. “Happy Friday y’all!” she quipped.

But while the light-hearted post was indeed funny, unfortunately, there are real people at the center of the firestorm. Both parties had been married at the time of the affair — Robach to former Melrose Place actor Andrew Shue since 2010 and Holmes to immigration lawyer Marilee Fiebig, also since 2010.

On Thursday night’s episode of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, host Andy Cohen dragged guest Gayle King, who hosts rival network NBC’s Today, into the mess by asking her thoughts on the situation.

“It’s just gotten very messy and very sloppy,” King reasoned. “I do think that you know, because in the beginning I actually thought — listen, good on Good Morning America, they’re saying that they’re not taking them off the air, two consenting adults. But then the more you read, it’s just very messy.”

“To me, it’s a sad situation because you’ve got kids involved, you’ve got families involved and I keep thinking about that,” she added. “I’m very concerned about that.”

Having been through a similar ordeal with the Matt Lauer sexual misconduct allegations in 2017, King can likely more than empathize.