The shocking resignation of CNN president Jeff Zucker is the latest chapter of scandals and controversies to plague the liberal network.
“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. As a result, I am resigning today,” Zucker wrote in a memo to staffers.
Stelter later acknowledged that the colleague Zucker in question was Allison Gollust, CNN’s chief marketing officer, who will remain with the company.
Embattled CNN boss Jeff Zucker walked away from the liberal network on Wednesday after failing to disclose a "consensual relationship" with a CNN staffer. (Getty Images)
Zucker’s sudden downfall marks the latest turbulence for the network.
CNN ended 2021 with the firing of its biggest star, Chris Cuomo, after the network learned of a sexual misconduct allegation from a former colleague during their tenure at ABC News.
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Cuomo had already been suspended over the revelations from the New York Attorney General’s investigation into Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, revealing the CNN anchor was far more involved in shielding his brother during his sexual harassment scandal than he previously acknowledged.
The former “Cuomo Prime Time” host is considering filing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit with the network over his termination.
Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.
(CNN)
In addition, two CNN producers have been recently ousted from the network after being swept up in separate criminal investigations involving alleged sex crimes with minors.
John Griffin, a senior producer for CNN’s long-struggling morning program “New Day,” was fired following his arrest in December and was charged by a grand jury in Vermont “with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.”
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Griffin allegedly attempted to pay off witnesses, offered a woman $30,000 for a “mother daughter weekend with me,” and told authorities that he was “ashamed” when he was taken into custody after allegedly abusing a 9-year-old girl and enticing other minors.
Last month, longtime "New Day" senior producer John Griffin was arrested by the FBI after being charged with shocking sex crimes with girls as young as nine years old.
(Vermont State Police)
Rick Saleeby, a former senior producer for Jake Tapper’s “The Lead,” offered his resignation before it became publicly known that he was under criminal investigation by the Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department “into serious allegations involving potential juvenile victims.”
The investigation into Saleeby appears to be tied to reporting by the conservative guerilla journalism outlet Project Veritas.
SECOND CNN PRODUCER UNDER ‘CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION’ INVOLVING ‘POTENTIAL JUVENILE VICTIMS’
Meanwhile, CNN spared its chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, who returned to the network last June following a lengthy absence from his Zoom masturbation scandal in 2020.
Toobin, who was swiftly fired from The New Yorker for his conduct, listened as daytime anchor Alisyn Camerota had the painfully awkward “honors” of describing what happened and its consequences. Toobin was witnessed by colleagues exposing himself and masturbating on a New Yorker staff Zoom call, leading to widespread ridicule of the veteran journalist.
CNN’s star legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was fired from his job as a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine following an investigation into an incident in which he was caught masturbating on a Zoom call with colleagues. CNN kept him around. (Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images)
(Getty Images/Photo illustration)
In addition to CNN’s personnel woes, the network had been suffering from disastrous ratings woes.
CNN’s viewership had a brief, post-election spike, but Americans quickly turned off the liberal network once President Biden took office. CNN settled for only 493,000 average viewers in January, marking a 74% drop compared to last year, and settled with a measly 101,000 average in the key demographic of adults age 25-54.
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During primetime, which historically is reserved for a network’s most-watched programming, CNN averaged just 633,000 viewers in January.
