With the DiscoveryWarnerMedia deal on track to close in a matter of weeks, David Zaslav is getting exactly what he didn’t need: a dumpster fire at CNN.
Yes, the network has been ratings-challenged and major shareholder John Malone had — chillingly — expressed dissatisfaction with the programming (not that he was the only one who thought CNN had moved too close to MSNBC). And, yes, eliminating Jeff Zucker as CNN’s chief was likely part of Zaslav’s long-term plan, eventually. But not now — and not in such a messy way.
“I don’t think [CNN] is in his top three priorities,” says a longtime media exec. “This is a giant turd in the punch bowl, but in terms of grand plan and strategy, it’s not central to the stock price. The stock price depends on HBO Max and streaming and getting the content and the right CEO.”
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This person suspects that for Zaslav, there has to be some pain in that this crisis was sparked by the poor choices of his golf buddy Zucker. “This [deal] is Zaslav’s crowning moment,” this person says. “He’s now a Polo Lounge mogul. Everyone should be kissing his ring and trying to get jobs, but this is what people are talking about.”
The truth is, the ring-kissing will not abate. It’s also true that Team Zaslav blames soon-to-be-former WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar for his handling of the situation. Having decided to get rid of Zucker, Kilar allowed the CNN chief to resign and frame the reason for his departure as the undisclosed relationship with his communications chief, Allison Gollust. And WarnerMedia said nothing, setting the stage for the furious backlash from CNN’s loyal anchors, who argued that the punishment did not seem to fit the crime. Kilar then waded into fractious in-person meetings in New York and Washington that became public. (He also visited Atlanta and checked in remotely with Hong Kong and London staff.) After that failed exercise, sources say Zaslav called some CNN talent in an effort to calm them.
But then, two weeks after Zucker’s exit, the story got a fresh boost with news that Gollust was out, too. While Kilar had said in the earlier meetings that the investigation was done, WarnerMedia sources have claimed that Gollust’s statement that her long-rumored relationship with Zucker became romantic “during COVID” was so unbelievable that the investigation started up again. Kilar issued a memo saying that an outside investigation found “violations of Company policies, including CNN’s News Standards and Practices, by Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust and Chris Cuomo.”
Whatever those were. Anyone who read the recent New York Times reporting expecting bombshell revelations was doomed to disappointment. While the Times cited Gollust prepping then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for CNN interviews, The Wall Street Journal initially put the blame on Gollust’s allegedly misleading statement about the start of the relationship with her boss.
Both lapses could have contributed to Gollust’s ouster, but WarnerMedia offered no clarity. Without producing concrete information about what led to the two departures, WarnerMedia did nothing to settle swirling questions about what actually motivated Kilar. Was he just doing what he thought was the right thing, letting the chips fall where they may? Or, given his strained relationship with Zucker, was he really playing what one observer calls “a myopic, vindictive game”? Drawing a parallel to the costly Project Popcorn initiative (when WarnerMedia blindsided its creative partners with a decision to debut the entire 2021 film slate on the HBO Max), this person says Kilar’s approach has been, “‘I’m not going to talk to a lot of people, I’m just going to act.’ He doesn’t bring in the team. He doesn’t work out a plan.”
One WarnerMedia insider says, “what perplexes people internally” is why it was necessary to dismiss Zucker now. “You could have suspended him,” this exec says. “You just don’t want to lose your leadership right this minute.” (It’s possible there was evidence of egregious misconduct that demanded immediate dismissal, though that has yet to be established in media reports.)
And where was AT&T CEO John Stankey, who might’ve been expected to do everything in his power to ensure a smooth handoff to Zaslav? Sources say Kilar checked in with Stankey before forcing Zucker’s resignation and before pushing out Gollust and, both times, was told to do what he thought best. AT&T declined to comment.
If Kilar thought he could fire Zucker and be the one to frame the circumstances internally and, by extension, to the public without creating a crisis, it could only be because he knew nothing of CNN’s culture — or because he listened to no advice, got bad advice or, as a short-timer, just didn’t care. Or maybe all of the above. “Anyone who didn’t say this is going to blow up like a bomb was not doing their job,” says an executive who has worked for Zucker and has lasting admiration for him even while saying that his ethics can be situational. “There is a certain quality of Jeff, a confidence, an intelligence, and ability to manage his people,” this person says. Another industry veteran who has known Zucker for decades says he “engendered incredible loyalty” at CNN, in part by hiring a number of anchors who had hit career roadblocks. “He gave these people new lives,” this person says. “Of course they were going to react with anger and fear” when he was dismissed.
Even if some remain convinced that Kilar merely grabbed an opportunity to do Zucker in, the reality is that Zucker himself provided the ammunition. He zigged and zagged on letting Chris Cuomo interview his brother and allowed legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin back into the fold despite conduct that got him dropped by The New Yorker. And within days of Cuomo’s firing amid a sexual assault allegation and for not disclosing his involvement in advising his brother’s sexual misconduct investigation, conservative outlets had a field day questioning Don Lemon’s friendship with and coverage of recently convicted Jussie Smollett.
In the end, the same instinctive approach that made Zucker strong also made him weak. “Jeff doesn’t go to sleep at night with a strategic plan,” says an industry veteran who has known Zucker for many years. “Jeff wakes up in the morning and looks at pieces on the board and plays them. He’s an incredible improviser. First he banned Cuomo from covering Cuomo, and then we’re in a pandemic and Andrew Cuomo is doing well, and Jeff thought, ‘This’ll make great television.’ And the next thing you know, you’re in deep shit. The reason there are rules is the exact reason that, eventually, there’s going to be a problem.”
This story first appeared in the Feb. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
