Connie Chung remembers the feud between Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer

Connie Chung experienced the tension between the deceased Barbara Walters And Diane Sawyer first-hand when she worked for ABC News and as a reporter for 20/20.

“I understand why they didn't join forces with me and fight the men. I was just stupid,” said Chung, 78, We weekly exclusively during the promotion of her book, Connie: A memory“It was foolish of me to think that we could be this triumvirate of strong women.”

Chung wrote in her memoir, released Tuesday, Sept. 17, about being stuck between Walters and Sawyer, 78, even though they were all colleagues. (Walters died in December 2022 at age 93.)

“Instead of fighting men, I found myself caught between two people I thought should have been allies,” she wrote. “I had foolishly believed the women were my comrades.”

Chung went on to say that she had been following the “battle of the same sexes” from the sidelines as a “disappointed and perplexed” presenter.

“I could imagine taking on the men who denied us equality. But I couldn't see the point of Diane clashing with the woman who had paved the way for us all,” she wrote. “Frankly, I felt Barbara Walters had earned the right to be a diva and push anyone off the cliff who tried to topple her.”

Related: Barbara Walters through the years: Photos

A television icon. Barbara Walters was a tough journalist for six decades – interviewing everyone from controversial politicians to some of the world’s most famous stars – before retiring in 2014. Walters began her career in the 1960s on the Today Show, where she went from working behind the scenes as […]

Chung has since had some time to reflect on the rivalry between Walters and Sawyer.

“The reason is clear to me now when I look back,” Chung explained Us before the release of her book. “Women only got such a small piece of the whole pie. They got this whole pie that men dominated. We got this tiny piece, a hair's breadth away. Women felt the need to compete against each other – and that's crazy.”

Even though Chung no longer acts as a news anchor, she believes things have changed.

“Fortunately, women have come together much more today because there are more women. We have gotten a bigger piece of the pie,” she told Us“But it's still a long way from 50/50. It's still a long way from parity. So we just have to keep pushing.” [Be] urgent, urgent. We just have to keep going like this.”

Although women and minorities have made “great progress” in the news business, Chung says there is still a long way to go.

“I was a little shocked at how much progress we haven't made,” she said. “Women still have to prove themselves. We want to be 150 percent better. I wish we could stop having to prove ourselves, but we're faced with this paradigm out there that is still dominated by men. But we're seeing signs, good signs, that maybe we can reach those higher positions.”

Connie: A memory is out now.