Shockwaves as CNN legend exits amid fears new owners will ‘do a number’ on network

Veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour sent shockwaves Monday by announcing her exit from the network after more than 40 years, a move that some critics suggested may be a well-timed escape from new owners they see as friendly to President Donald Trump.

“Notably, this announcement occurs just weeks after David Ellison closed on the Warner Bros. merger and took over CNN,” wrote Zeteo media columnist Justin Baragona in a social media post on X Monday.

Paramount Skydance closed its $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6, handing Ellison control of a media empire that includes CNN, CBS News, HBO and Paramount+, among countless other properties.

Ellison, whose father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is a close ally of Trump, has cozied up to the president himself, attending a UFC match on the White House lawn for Trump’s 80th birthday, months after Trump declared it “imperative that CNN be sold.”

“Yep, they’re about to do a number on CNN,” arguedKevin Grüssing, a content creator credited with surfacing information about the 2024 documentary “Quiet on Set.” “Good on Amanpour for making clear she wants none of it.”

Amanpour did not specify her reasons for leaving the network after 43 years, but in a statement, said she came to the decision “after many months of thought and a few sleepless nights.” She added that she will “always be rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism.”

CNN chairman Mark Thompson said in a memo to staff that he and Amanpour had been “discussing it for some months” and that he’d “come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally.”

“Christiane Amanpour, who parlayed a desk assistant job in Atlanta into a globe-trotting assignment for CNN, will leave the news giant in June,” noted veteran journalist Brian Steinberg. “Her exit comes as CNN comes under the control of a new owner, Skydance.”

“Huge TV news. I didn’t expect she’d ever leave CNN,” wrote Niall Stanage, a White House columnist for The Hill.