Paramount boss David Ellison has reportedly cooled on CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss after her ’60 Minutes’ debacle, throwing her CNN takeover into doubt.
Status founder Oliver Darcy made the claim on Saturday’s episode of the “Power Lines” podcast, as CNN staffers brace for Ellison’s Paramount Skydance to take control of their network within weeks.
Paramount cleared its last major obstacle this week when a dozen states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta settled their lawsuit blocking its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal required no structural changes, and CNN was not spun off.
Darcy said the long-standing expectation was that Weiss would run CNN’s newsroom alongside CBS News.
“The plan had always been, from our understanding and other reporting, that David Ellison was going to put Bari Weiss in charge of CNN’s editorial as well as CBS News and The Free Press,” Darcy said. “And that was the plan. That’s why he bought The Free Press. That’s why he brought Bari Weiss and made her editor-in-chief of CBS News.”
That plan may no longer hold.
“I’m told Ellison’s enthusiasm for Bari Weiss has cooled in recent months, particularly after the CBS News 60 Minutes disaster that she led there,” Darcy said.
He added that Paramount has refused to say who will run CNN.
“I’ve asked Paramount, you’ve asked Paramount, I think every day this week what the plan is for CNN, and the spokesperson literally says they don’t know,” Darcy told co-host Jon Passantino.
Darcy argued that sidelining Weiss would amount to a public rebuke of her tenure at CBS News.
“Look, if Bari Weiss is not given control of CNN in some capacity, I think that’s sort of a vote of no confidence in her, right? Because that was the plan,” Darcy said. “So if they say Mark Thompson’s going to remain in charge of CNN, in some cases, that’s a really poor reflection on how David Ellison feels that she’s been doing at CBS News.”
Thompson, CNN’s chief executive, has been left in the dark himself. At a town hall this week, first reported by Status, he told anxious staffers he had little to offer.
“I’m afraid this is one of those occasions where you’ll find the answers are slightly scarcer than the questions,” Thompson said, per Status.
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