In the 1980s, ABC News planned to air a special regarding the Kennedy brothers’ involvement in Marilyn’s death. But at 6:00 p.m. on the day the broadcast was to air, with mere hours to go, ABC pulled the plug. “A dead president belongs to history,” host Hugh Downs said by way of explanation, “and he belongs to accurate history.” ABC News president Roone Arledge, who canceled the documentary, was a longtime friend of Ethel Kennedy. He denied any conflict of interest.
