Jeff Zucker is no longer the boss of the US news channel CNN. The message alone caused a stir on Wednesday, the reason for it even more: In the course of the internal investigation into the former star presenter Chris Cuomo, it came out that Zucker had entered into a relationship with marketing director Allison Gollust.
Cuomo was released in December after being accused of helping his brother Andrew cover up affairs and using CNN as a platform. Andrew resigned as governor of New York State in August following allegations of sexual harassment by several women.
“I’ve been working with her for more than 20 years; a love affair has developed over the past few years,” Zucker wrote in an email to CNN employees that SZ has seen and excerpts of which were also quoted by a CNN employee on Twitter: “I should have made the relationship public when it started – I didn’t do that and that was wrong. That’s why I’m stepping down today.”
Zucker and Gollust are both divorced, they were both single when they became a couple. Gollust wrote in a statement that she wanted to keep her post: “Jeff and I have been friends and colleagues for 20 years; during Covid the relationship has changed. I’m sorry that we didn’t share it at the right time.”
He made Trump even more famous
Zucker, 56, is one of the most dazzling figures in the American media industry – also, and above all, because of his connection to Donald Trump. As head of entertainment at NBC, he was responsible for Trump becoming even more famous through the reality TV show The Apprentice.
Zucker had been CNN boss since 2013 and introduced the slogan “Facts First”. It became significant during Trump’s presidency; the network became Trump’s enemy (on one occasion, the former president posted a video on Twitter of him whacking CNN in wrestling fashion) for addressing the president’s numerous lies.
At the end of the year, Zucker wanted to stop anyway. The media group Discovery announced in May last year that it wanted to take over CNN parent company Warner Media – Zucker was also chairman of the news and sports department there – in mid-2022. Zucker initially stayed, unlike many other CNN executives; the 56-year-old came under pressure because he had held on to moderator Cuomo for a long time despite the serious allegations. Now he resigns immediately; CNN announced that it was working on an interim solution.