Reports say E! asked Kmetko to leave

TV Guide Online quotes an anonymous source in revealing that openly gay anchorman Steve Kmetko was let go from the E! Entertainment Television cable channel in a dispute with management, which had decided to terminate Kmetko despite the fact that there was a year left on his contract.

E!'s official comment on Kmetko's departure reads only: "Steve Kmetko is no longer with the company. He is moving on to pursue other career endeavors. He was a great part of the team at E! and we certainly wish him the best personally and professionally."

Kmetko has so far declined to comment on his abrupt departure.

Also missing in action, at least for the moment, is www.SteveKmetko.com (visitors to the site are redirected to a page on E!'s Web site that, oddly enough, provides Kmetko's bio)--a development that apparently is also tied in to the anchor's trouble with E! "It's all connected," a friend of Kmetko's told TV Guide Online. "It may go back up when--and if--all this is resolved."

Meanwhile, Village Voice columnist Michael Musto notes, "My lousiest new scoop is that Steve Kmetko didn't quit E! at all. After getting a biggie there mad, he was summarily fired. (I'm looking into the details.) What E!-ffrontery."