CNN chief Jeff Zucker resigns after relationship with colleague
- The matter came to light during the investigation into anchor Chris Cuomo, who was fired for aiding brother Andrew Cuomo during a sexual harassment probe
- The colleague in question, CNN executive vice-president and chief marketing officer Allison Gollust, is staying on at the network
CNN President Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned on Wednesday after acknowledging a consensual relationship with another network executive – an entanglement that came to light during an investigation of now-fired anchor Chris Cuomo.
Zucker said he was asked about his relationship with long-time aide Allison Gollust as part of the Cuomo investigation, which revealed that the former anchor had aided his brother, then New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, as he navigated a sexual harassment scandal.
“I acknowledged the relationship had evolved in recent years,” Zucker wrote in a memo announcing the end of his nine-year tenure. “I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong.”
A memo to employees from Jason Kilar, CEO of CNN parent WarnerMedia, said three senior executives at CNN would run the network on an interim basis.
Zucker, 56, has been an industry leader since he was executive producer of the Today show in the 1990s. In the following decade, he ran NBC’s entertainment division, where he was instrumental in putting the reality show The Apprentice starring Donald Trump on the air.