Exodus begins at CNN over looming threat of Bari Weiss takeover: report

With the very real possibility that Paramount's pending $111 billion acquisition of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery will be approved, CNN is about to witness the first major departure of its on-air talent.

After Paramount took over CBS, the news division has been in a constant state of chaos under CBS News head Bari Weiss, which culminated in a mass purge of the staff of “60 Minutes.”

According to the media watchdog Status, fears of a repeat were a contributing factor in popular host and legal analyst Paula Reid declining to sign a new contract despite a “generous renewal deal offered by network executives.”

Oliver Darcy of Status writes she won’t be the last. Anderson Cooper, who departed “60 Minutes” after the Weiss takeover, is also reportedly considering his options.

Reid, who spent a decade at CBS News before joining CNN, has watched firsthand how Weiss operates. According to sources, she has privately expressed alarm about the sweeping changes Weiss implemented at CBS and fears a similar demolition awaits CNN if Ellison gains control.

During contract negotiations, Reid raised her concerns directly with CNN executives, "questioning how the network would operate under David Ellison's ownership." The executives, unable to offer concrete assurances about CNN's future direction or leadership structure, proved unable to retain their rising star.

Reid isn't the only high-profile journalist prepared to flee. Technology journalist Kara Swisher, who has "contributed on-air content and recently fronted a documentary series for CNN," has repeatedly stated she will depart when the Paramount deal closes.

CNN journalists have privately expressed "horror" and have begun weighing whether to stay, acutely aware of what transpired at CBS under Weiss's leadership.

Ellison has refused to "publicly articulate his plans" for CNN post-merger, including whether current leadership will remain. That vacuum of information has crippled CNN management's ability to reassure journalists about their futures.

The report notes, "Ellison has not said who would oversee CNN if and when the deal closes, though the long-running plan had been for the anti-'woke' CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss to assume editorial oversight, as Statuspreviously reported. It's not clear whether that remains the plan following Weiss' egregious mishandling of '60 Minutes.'"

"It is difficult to assure staffers to stay when executives cannot even tell staffers who their bosses will be by the end of the year," one insider told Darcy.