An emotional Don Lemon delivered a personal message regarding the high-profile resignation of the cable news network’s president, Jeff Zucker, at the top of his show Friday.
“The truth is we’re all heartbroken because we lost our leader here,” the CNN host said, calling Zucker the “backbone, the glue, and the spirit of this company” and crediting him personally for hiring a gay black man and giving him two hours of prime-time coverage.
Zucker resigned as CNN president Wednesday after admitting to a consensual relationship with a colleague, who was identified as Chief Marketing Officer Allison Gollust, and claiming he did not disclose it in a timely manner during an investigation into the tenure of anchor Chris Cuomo, who was fired in December amid an inquiry into his efforts to help his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fend off sexual harassment allegations.
“I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t,” Zucker said in an email to CNN employees Wednesday. “I was wrong. As a result, I am resigning today.”
Zucker served as president of CNN Worldwide from 2013 to 2022. He was previously employed at NBC and Disney in executive roles. Some have faulted Zucker for contributing to the political rise of former President Donald Trump by giving him a large platform during the 2016 campaign.
Three senior executives — Michael Bass, Amy Entelis, and Ken Jautz — will lead CNN until a merger with Discovery is finished, according to Jason Kilar, the CEO of WarnerMedia, CNN’s parent company.
Lemon said it has been difficult to come to work this week. He assured his thousands of colleagues at CNN, some of whom he noted have not been at CNN as long as him, that the network has been through ups and downs in the past.
“Through it all, our mission has remained the same: to deliver the facts, to deliver the news,” he said.
“Jeff Zucker may not have launched this network, but he revived it. He made it relevant again. He steadied it for the last decade,” Lemon said, adding that Zucker left a “very good blueprint” for the future. He highlighted some of the big stories CNN has covered over the years, including, most recently, the “insurrection” attempt on Jan. 6, 2021.
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Lemon then assured viewers that he and his colleagues will “continue to do exactly what he would want us to do,” which is to “deliver the news, no matter what it is, without fear or favor.”
He concluded, “Thank you, Jeff Zucker, for everything you did for everyone at this network and for what you did to the entire country — for the entire country.”
