Mark Sainsbury yesterday broke his silence over speculation regarding his future on CloseUp - and TVNZ pointed the finger at TV3 for creating "commercial mischief".
There had been frequent reports that Breakfast host Paul Henry was being groomed for Sainsbury's job.
But Sainsbury said yesterday he had had enough of the innuendo.
"Normally I'd say 'no comment', but this is getting ridiculous. Every week sh*t is being written, and no one rings me to check whether it's true."
Sainsbury denied any suggestion his position at CloseUp was under threat: "There's never been any discussions, suggestions, or anything about that."
And he suspected that the rumours were being spread maliciously: "I'd be very interested to know where it's coming from."
TVNZ spokeswoman Andi Brotherston said Sainsbury had the full support of the network.
Any suggestion that he was under threat was false: "There's is absolutely no truth in it. There's been no power struggle and no lawyers."
Brotherston all but accused TV3 of being the source of the stories: "I would hope it's not our competitors, but it would be good to know where it's coming from."
TV3 spokesman Roger Beaumont said his network had nothing to do with the rumours: "I think they've got enough of their own internal problems without me adding to them."
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