Whether disingenuous or completely honest, the reality is the Jeff Zucker saga that saw his love interest Allison Gollust resign this week is a "legal mess for CNN," according to CNN's own media analyst Brian Stelter.
"Why is this all not being shared? Maybe for legal reasons, right?" Stelter admitted on Sunday's "Reliable Sources," discussing the saga that began with allegations of conflicts of interest with former host Chris Cuomo and disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
"I was told by a source that Zucker can't comment further on the substance of why he left when he did and what happened."
Stelter added "maybe because of some legal agreement."
Chris Cuomo is potentially suing for even more than the millions that were remaining on his CNN contract – as much as $60 million, according to the New York Post
"Everybody's lawyered up," Stelter continued. "Chris Cuomo might sue. Cuomo's lawyer apparently wants tens of millions of dollar out of this network, so this is now a legal mess for CNN."
Gollust resigned this week after the conclusion of a third-party investigation that reportedly found she was prepping then-Gov. Cuomo for interviews on CNN, including with his brother Chris as host.
"Based on interviews of more than 40 individuals and a review of over 100,000 texts and emails, the investigation found violations of company policies, including CNN's News Standards and Practices, by Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust, and Chris Cuomo," WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar wrote in the memo to CNN, announcing Gollust's ouster.
"We have the highest standards of journalistic integrity at CNN, and those rules must apply to everyone equally," Kilar's memo added. "Given the information provided to me in the investigation, I strongly believe we have taken the right actions and the right decisions have been made."
But unlike the otherwise silence of CNN, Zucker, and Cuomo, Gollust fired back at WarnerMedia's characterization of her ouster.
"WarnerMedia's statement tonight is an attempt to retaliate against me and change the media narrative in the wake of their disastrous handling of the last two weeks," Gollust wrote in a statement. "It is deeply disappointing that after spending the past nine years defending and upholding CNN's highest standards of journalistic integrity, I would be treated this way as I leave. But I do so with my head held high, knowing that I gave my heart and soul to working with the finest journalists in the world."
Stelter continued to cover the story Sunday with anonymous "sources," while trying to protect his company from further liability in the "legal mess."
"Now we're in a situation where maybe everything's come out, maybe we've found out everything, or maybe's there's more and, frankly, we just don't know," Stelter concluded with unveiled uncertainty. "And that's frustrating for CNN staffers as well as fans of this network."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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