Jeff Zucker Resigns From CNN After Disclosing Relationship With Colleague
CNN chief Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned from the news giant Wednesday, throwing the management of one of WarnerMedia’s prize assets into utter disarray just weeks before the company is expected to be taken over by Discovery, after an investigation into fired anchor Chris Cuomo revealed that Zucker had not disclosed a consensual relationship with an unnamed colleague.
“As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years. I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong,” Zucker wrote in the memo to staff. As a result, I am resigning today.” Zucker also oversees Turner Sports, another critical asset and was largely tasked with supervising the bulk of WarnerMedia’s live programming — seen as a bulwark against the migration of one-time TV viewers to on-demand streaming video.
The colleague is Allison Gollust, CNN’s chief marketing officer and a longtime Zucker lieutenant. She has worked closely with Zucker since his time at NBC News, where he enjoyed a quick rise to the top as executive producer of that company’s “Today” show, and subsequently went on to oversee NBC Entertainment and then NBCUniversal as a whole when it was owned by General Electric. Gollust was one of Zucker’s first hires at CNN when he came aboard in 2013 and was the source of some rancor between Zucker and WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar when he shifted her role so that she reported more directly to corporate.
“Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years. Recently, our relationship changed during COVID. I regret that we didn’t disclose it at the right time,” Gollust said in a statement. “I’m incredibly proud of my time at CNN and look forward to continuing the great work we do everyday.” Gollust has expressed an interest in staying at the company.
WarnerMedia was expected to unveil an interim leadership plan. “I have accepted Jeff Zucker’s resignation as Chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports, and President of CNN Worldwide. We thank Jeff for his contributions over the past 9 years” said Jason Kilar, WarnerMedia’s CEO, in a statement. “Both of these organizations are at the top of their respective games and are well prepared for their next chapters.”
The news is said to have roiled people inside CNN, many of whom were told about it this morning. “I am devastated,” Don Lemon, the network’s late primetime anchor, told Variety in an interview. “I just think so highly of Jeff, and he is the best boss we have ever had, and one of the best things that has ever happened to CNN. There are probably going to be a lot of nervous people at CNN because Jeff is really the glue there,” said Lemon, who has gained new traction at CNN since being elevated from anchoring weekends to leading two hours of CNN’s programming each night. “He made us relevant again.”
When Zucker joined CNN in 2013, the network was lagging Fox News Channel and MSNBC, both of which focus much of their most-watched programming on partisans — typically conservative or liberals. During his tenure at the network, he allowed anchors, correspondents and contributors to add more voice to their reporting, and in the process adopted some of the tactics of the network’s rivals. Many of the most successful anchors at CNN in the recent past — Chris Cuomo, Brianna Keilar, Lemon, Van Jones — have been able to offer more analysis and commentary than past counterparts like Bernard Shaw or Aaron Brown might be allowed.
More to come…
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