It’s a Cult: CNNers Remain Infatuated With Zucker Despite Growing Scandal

Through a series of stories this week, it was evident CNN’s current staff have no interest in being salvaged as a serious news organization and anything other than a far-left propaganda outlet worthy of being some combination of mocked and ignored. Instead, the staff are determined to leave their ex-boss. Jeff Zucker after his Wednesday orster, they’ve tried to canonize him as a tent pole of American democracy.

Even though there was increasing evidence at outlets like the New York Post Rolling Stone Zucker, for instance, colluded and conspired with Allison Gollust, his girlfriend/colleague. Former Prime Time Chris Cuomo is the host to assist Cuomo’s brother Andrew while he was the Democratic governor of New York.

It Post’s Emily Smith and Theo Wayt reportedThursday afternoon: Zucker and Gollust “personally call[ed] him to do news segments…and even coaching him on what to say during his infamous COVID briefings” Andrew with the emphasis of a source “how to hit back at [President Donald] Trump to make it more compelling TV.”

Smith and Wayt also added Gollust “leaned on her ‘good relationship’” As she worked previously for the governor.

CNN confirmed the news in a remarkable way. “[b]ooking newsmakers on television is always extremely competitive…and an all-hands-on-deck endeavour.”

Over at Rolling Stone, reporter Tatiana Siegel that collusion has garnered growing attention in the outside investigation of Chris Cuomo’s time at CNN. Siegel also blew up the farcical claim about the timeline Zucker and Gollust gave about their romantic relationship as she insisted it goes back 26 years (click “expand”):

It is all about timing in relationships. And the timeline on Jeff Zucker and Allison Gollust’s coupledom is not only off by more than two decades, say sources who have worked with the pair — the CNN power couple also repeatedly lied about their relationship to their corporate bosses.

(….)

The scope of the investigation has now expanded to include Zucker and Gollust’s relationship with Andrew Cuomo, too, a WarnerMedia source acknowledged.

Sources who knew Zucker and Gollust well from the early Nineties, dispute the claims in the memo. In reality, these sources tell Rolling Stone, Zucker became romantically entangled with Gollust back in 1996, when she was a trainee in NBC’s corporate communications group and he was the married executive producer of The Today Show. “It was the worst-kept secret, but Jeff was seen as untouchable,” says one insider. “And their statements [in the memo] are total bullshit.”

They have both avoided this issue several times before and WarnerMedia had conducted at least one investigation into the relationship long before Covid.

(….)

The source says the investigation suggests Zucker and Gollust were advising the governor at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in ways not dissimilar to what led to Chris Cuomo’s dismissal. As Andrew sparred on a daily basis with then-President Trump over Covid messaging, the couple provided the governor with talking points on how to respond to the president’s criticisms of the New York crisis. In addition, they booked the governor for an exclusive appearance on CNN. Chris Cuomo did the interview. Cuomo and Gollust’s conduct, too, would appear to mark an ethical breach for executives acting on behalf of an impartial news outlet.

(….)

The Zucker-Gollust affair has been a common topic in the CNN and NBC newsrooms for the last three decades. Multiple sources claim that Gollust rose from the position of trainee to senior publicist at Today within a year. Zucker was then made her boss. This pattern continued with two minor interruptions. After a string of promotions, she was able to expand her responsibilities and assumed oversight for NBC News (MSNBC), CNBC (CNBC), and Weather Channel. NBC Nightly News,DatelinePlease see the following: Meet the Press.

Siegel stated that Zucker actually picked Gollust for his replacement as head of CNN. However, the Chris Cuomo probe ruined their chances. “well-laid plans” with the introduction of “emails and other ‘evidence.’”

However, Zuckerville’s cult is unabated. Vanity Fair’s Joe Pompeo Jamie Gangel, special correspondent for WarnerMedia, protested Jamie Gangel’s dismissal of her close friend. Jason Kilar, WarnerMedia CEO, told Gangel that Congressmen (including members on the January 6-committee) informed her that they were “devastated for our democracy” and troubled that he won’t “be around to make sure that CNN is able to do its job.”

Elle added: “the company has made a terrible mistake” and WarnerMedia bosses didn’t grasp “what you’ve done to this organization, and to our coverage, and to all the people who worked for him.”

Try and convince us that this isn’t a cult.

Things got fanatical, unfortunately. Dylan Byers, Puck News reporter.

Byers is an ex-journalist for CNN Media. He obtained audio recordings of the meeting and described it. “anger…regarding…[Zucker’s] sudden defenstration” With D.C. bureau staff “at a loss to understand how the network will function” Since Zucker was, there has been no Zucker “involved in nearly every aspect of the network’s programming.”

To underline the level in which Zucker was some combination of puppetmaster and hand-holder for these sheep, he quoted chief political correspondent Dana Bash as having said “the punishment didn’t fit the crime” and it went against Zucker’s morals in giving people “a second chance.”

Without a sense of irony for how CNN has shown nothing but hate in seeking to treat conservatives as enemies of the state, chief political analyst Gloria Borger lamented Zucker wasn’t given “a lot of dignity” Kasie Hunt is worried that the Zucker news may cloud the launch CNN+.

Chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins was similarly forlorn as, using Collins’s logic, CNN will be lost and lack its daily propaganda marching orders:

Jeff’s critical contribution to the discussion about our day-to-day activities is crucial. If you listen to the 9 a.m. calls, if you talk to anybody in this room, producers, people in the control room, that’s how they feel.

This is how you get people to fall asleep on couches.

Meanwhile, The LeadHost and State of the Union co-host Jake Tapper compared Cuomo to a terrorist and chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto sounded lost like Collins (click “expand”):

Moments later, CNN’s lead Washington anchor, Jake Tapper, addressed the elephant in the room: the lawsuit that CNN’s disgraced former anchor Chris Cuomo had brought against the network in an effort to get the severance that Zucker had denied him when he was fired in December.

(….)

Tapper: “Jason, if you could address the perception that Chris Cuomo gets fired by CNN, Chris Cuomo hires a high-powered lawyer who has a scorched-earth policy, who then makes it very clear to the world that unless Jeff gives Chris Cuomo his money, they’re going to blow the place up. Stuff starts getting leaked to gossip websites about Jeff and Allison… and then weeks later, Jeff comes forward, discloses this and resigns—not willingly. An outside observer might say, ‘Wow, it looks like Chris Cuomo succeeded. He threatened, Jeff said we don’t negotiate with terrorists, and he blew the place up.’ How do we get past that perception, that this is the bad guy winning?”

(….)

CNN’s chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, turned his attention to the most pressing question for CNN journalists and producers in terms of their day-to-day jobs: “We have a war brewing in Europe, and we have midterm elections coming up, and of course Jeff was involved in a whole host of decisions… so, starting tomorrow, where are we going to get that direction?”

We can then ask, “How old are they?”

Though to no avail, one of CNN’s interim leaders said they wouldn’t be changing “Jeff’s strategy”Work hard to achieve your goals “to honor him.”

Stephen Battaglio, at the Los Angeles Times , at the same meeting, carnival barker Jim Acosta was concerned about CNN becoming “Fox News lite.” Naturally, Tapper agreed.

And on Gollust, he added new information about her likely future (click “expand”):

Veteran Washington correspondent Jim Acosta, who at one point had his White House press credentials revoked, expressed concern that a manager without Zucker’s toughness might have relented to the pressure.

“If we had not had Jeff here during the Trump administration, we would have probably been taken out and you would have something like Fox News lite on the air right now,” Acosta said. “It’s a rather delicate time, not just for this country but this business.”

Washington anchor Jake Tapper said the network would have become “benign, vanilla gruel” if not for Zucker’s leadership.

(….)

While Gollust remains employed by CNN, several people familiar with her status who were not authorized to discuss it publicly said she will likely not stay with the company once Discovery’s merger with WarnerMedia is completed in a few months.