I wrote as much.
I MET Griffith several years ago at, of all things, a Jerry Lewis MDA fundraiser in Oakland. Griffith was at KTVU where the event was and I was invited to work the celebrity call center, as was Leslie. We exchanged greetings and it was only a momentary affair. She was very cordial and friendly, nothing too out of the ordinary. Little did we know--probably Griffith herself--that she'd become a central figure at KTVU.
As years progressed, Griffith became one of KTVU's most popular anchors. She was held in high esteem by her peers for her tenacious style, not only as an anchor, but her work in the field as a reporter. She was a solid producer and developed a tough, rigorous news acumen. She built up a genuine repetoire with not only staff but viewers alike. Griffith's on-air work won her numerous industry awards and stature.
Then things started to get weird.
Griffith, say her detractors, soon developed a cold, standoffish, persona. She was extremely non-engaging with those who worked with her. I'm not saying this was the gospel, I'm only telling you what was said about Leslie. She became distant and not exactly warm and fuzzy. It may have accelerated when her profile got bigger. She was still emerging at KTVU and her anchoring skills never abated so the feeling was, "let her live and let live."
Griffith, who is now teaching journalism, got too controversial for her own sake. She was especially "busy" at the station. It didn't mesh well for not only Leslie but for others. One thing about her: she didn't take any shit. That may have bothered the big boys. She wasn't always in the right but in a male-dominated industry, Leslie was quite strident. Good for her.
There was quite a bit of angst and anguish, too bad, because Leslie Griffith was one helluva TV News journalist/ anchor.
FEARED and LOATHED...and sexy as all damn hell. I still remember that commercial where all of the anchors were dancing. Dennis Richmond, a black man, had moves along the line of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld. But Leslie..Leslie put them all to shame.
ReplyDeleteI remember her from my teenage years back in the 80's. She was easy on the eyes before that was a term.
ReplyDeleteAmen brother. And a body to match.
DeleteMy one and only interaction with Leslie Griffith: At the former Safeway parking lot near her home in Walnut Creek, I was looking for a parking spot. I came across an attractive woman that had just loaded her groceries in the back of her SUV. This was the type of SUV that had a swing out rear spare tire carrier that had to be moved before the back hatch would go up. She put her groceries in the back, closed the door and went to the driver's door. As I pulled up, I noticed the spare tire carrier still extended. I came alongside the back of her car, rolled down my passenger window, and just before she got into her car I said in a loud voice "Maam, you forgot to latch your spare tire".
ReplyDeleteShe stopped, glared at me for a moment (I then recognized her as Leslie Griffith), she then walked to the back of her car and latched the carrier. Never any eye contact, never a thank you, never an acknowledgement that I had likely saved her from damaging her own car or someone else's. As if I had done nothing.
"Griffith, say her detractors, soon developed a cold, standoffish, persona. She was extremely non-engaging with those who worked with her."
Or with those that were trying to be helpful.
I wonder if you would even run into any of the "high profile" local news anchors at a Safeway nowadays. They all probably have their food delivered. Or solely shop at Whole Foods. The world in 2021.
DeleteLeslie loved a good bargain! My kind of woman.
Many a man at ktvu disappeared alone into a broom closet after watching Leslie in her miniskirts.
DeleteSomeone in a high-profile position such as the one Leslie Griffith occupied is subject to enormous criticism and their behavior put under a microscope for literally everything they do. Eventually, it takes its toll. In addition, every single "mistake" made becomes an indictment of their capability. They hear it constantly. Sooner or later one hardens oneself to any comment as if it were a criticism so that they are immune from the pain it inflicts. For women especially, they are deemed cold or "standoffish," or worse yet, said to have a "personality flaw." Rubbish!
DeleteI know she gave Ibanez a Cleveland Steamer once.
ReplyDeleteMust be going down Past KTVU anchors.
ReplyDeleteNext week, looking at KRON Past Anchors???
How come Leslie and Elaine never got back to news reporting? Is it management related or someone bash both anchor behind their backs and no station will hire them. Even Frank did something wrong and a former KRON morning news reporter arrested for drugs got into the reporting field, not Elaine and Leslie, maybe, Rich can find out more.
ReplyDelete> and a former KRON morning news reporter
Delete> arrested for drugs got into the
> reporting field
Who the hell was that?!?
Sexiest woman on local news at the time. Put Dennis Richmond to shame when they were all dancing in that old KTVU commercial.
ReplyDeleteRich, grow a set and start posting comments. Your blog is slipping bad.
SORRY RICH. My mistake. You still are THE MAN. The best damn source for SF Bay Area news in the well Bay Area!!
ReplyDeleteRich, love the blog. Thank you for the Elaine Corral and Leslie Griffith posts. Loved those women.
ReplyDeleteHouse cleaning and new fingerprints from the upper decision makers. The truth be told the only thing of value with any of these local stations is their transmission frequencies. Sell them and put a nail in the coffin.
ReplyDeletewe dated in college. What a gal. Very passionate/crazy in bed and out. Knew she would go onto big things. I was young. Moved on to the next, as any young buck would. What times. -Mark in Sonoma
ReplyDeleteCompared to the garbage that's on nightly around this market, Leslie and Elaine are the queens of the hive. Journalists. Their work got them attention, not their botox lips (Heather Holmes), chest size (Darya Folsom) or propensity for creating drama (Kristen Tse). As Bill Belichick would say, "Do your job." Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteAnd not their ethnicity (every anchor on every damn Bay Area station nowadays).
Delete6:30, I agree with you. The days of hiring a caucasian anchor are all but over in these parts. local stations have given into woke culture and treat whites as human kryptonite. You're more likely to see a male-to-female transgender Aleutian Eskimo hired in the Bay Area than a competent and qualified white.
DeleteLeslie's obit will be short but sweet: "Griffith was good at three things - fighting, screwing and reading the news."
ReplyDeleteWhat about piling her hair up higher and higher until the camera needed a super-Panavision lense to get it all?
DeleteReally strange at the end. Couldn't watch her. Whatever meds she was on weren't working.
ReplyDeleteI worked with her at Channel 2. She was great. Always nice to me. It’s true that her and Ibanez were a thing. You could always feel the tension when they would fight but it went the other way too. One time before the sports report, she walked over to him, unhooked her bra, and laid it out on his desk without a word. He did the entire sports report with a wonder bra on his lap. Those where the days! You’d never get away with that now.
ReplyDeleteI remember Leslie anchoring at KSBW in Salinas in the 80’s. She was really good then so I was not surprised seeing her at KTVU. I also met her once at a dinner and was very gracious talking to me. FWIW, she was drop-dead gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteNever liked Leslie Griffith. She never hides her political views and would have been better off just reporting the story. Julie Haener is much better than her.
ReplyDeleteI always thought she was 1) a lightweight and 2) a flake.
ReplyDeleteI interviewed her for a magazine once. Talk about reporters who don't report objectively. She's one of those 60s wackadoodles who thinks she's going to save the world through journalism. Dennis Richmond just told us the news and let us decide what to think of it. She had to put her mark on it. She's the beginning of the decline of KTVU to me. They were still far higher then than they are today of course, but that was the first hole in the ship that's now led to the station being the Titanic.
Now, Elaine C. was a bitch and everyone in the newsroom hated her guts. But at least she had chops.
The criticisms that Rich Lieberman has laid toward HH, Gasia, & Claudine Lee is what Bill Mann unleashed on Griffith when he was the renowned TV critic for the Oakland Tribune. Overall Bay viewers may have actually felt the same way if the Weekend newscast ratings in the 1990s were any indication. Griffith never came across friendly in front of the camera.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of anchors, Rich your blog clearly has influence. Julie Haener hasn’t taken a day off ever since the increased chatter here about her taking upwards of 300 days off annually. For her to have not taken a day off in nearly two weeks isn’t coincidence. Clearly she felt the heat.
ReplyDeleteIf they ever make a movie about Leslie Griffith, they should get Rosamund Pike to play her. ;)
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, a few years back my wife and I enjoyed cocktails with her and found her to be very nice to talk to. But KTVU or news biz never came up in the conversation. We were outside the Bay Area so she probably had no idea I knew who she was and I never said either. She talked mostly about her writing process for a book she was working on.
Watching Mibach tonight. If he's the new Frank (as KTVU management seems to be implying by giving him so much face time) he's got the charm of a bunion. They need to send him to charm school, or at least teach him to crack a smile. He always looks like he just pooped his pants.
ReplyDeleteSeems like The Firm is basically forcing Mibach into the prime time gig. Mibach hasn't done one single morning shift with Gasia ever since Rich broke the explosive story that Mibach regularly vents his frustration and lets off steam by screaming in the parking lot after his morning shift with Gasia. Looks like the Mike and Gasia morning pairing is essentially a thing of the past.
DeleteOn a side note, further proof that professionalism at ktvu is officially out the window: This morning when Gasia tossed to James Torrez for a live shot, James began his report with 'Hey what's up Gasia?' Not the most eggregious foul but he needs to remember he's not communicating with one of his Tinder or Grindr matches when he communicates with his colleagues on-air.
At noon today, after the broadcast was over, we got a shot of Rosemary primping in what looked like a clip immediately before her weather segment. It was short, just a few seconds, buy she was adjusting her hair and clothes. They cut away just as she started to adjust her bra straps. If those are the public dirty tricks they are playing on each other, no wonder moral is so low at the station. Things like that are so inappropriate in a professional work place, I'm appalled whoever is doing it is even still employed there.
DeleteI always thought she had a "deer in the headlights look" when she anchored. Not that she came across as dumb--she just looked wide-eyed.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't take her "sighs."
ReplyDelete