When Variety's Bill Triplett saw ABC's Jake Tapper host "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" last week, he thought about one thing: An article Tapper wrote for Salon in 1999, in which he called Stephanopoulos a "betrayer (who) comes across as shallow, deluded, naive, appallingly star struck and disgustingly ambitious." Also: "An arrogant young Greek who flies too close to the sun and crashes to the ground."

Tapper and an ABC spokesperson say that Jake and George are fast friends now and Tapper's ashamed of his earlier work: "I'm embarrassed because it was completely over the top and nasty and I wouldn't sign my name to it now."