Amid rumors Jim Acosta will not be exiting CNN, a source very close to CNN CEO and President Chris Licht told TheWrap on Sunday.
Acosta, who currently serves as an anchor for weekend programming and CNN’s chief domestic correspondent, was rumored to be the next anchor to leave. Speculation intensifies after NewsCycle Media president John Nicosia tweeted that he had a scoop on the next “big name” to leave CNN, and Identified Person as Acosta on Friday. After Mediaite informed of On Sunday that the rumors were “absolutely bull-“, a source close to the CNN leadership confirmed the report.
The rumors surfaced two months after Brian Stelter’s abrupt exit from the network, as well as the cancellation of his Sunday morning show, “Trusted Source.” At the time, TheWrap exclusively reported that Don Lemon and Acosta were expected to remain on the network, despite the centrist direction directed by Licht.
While many speculated that billionaire media mogul John Malone, who is a Warner Bros. Discovery stakeholder, former President Donald Trump, was behind the decision to cancel “Trusted Source” because of Malone’s support. denied His involvement in The New York Times, saying he wanted “the ‘news’ portion of CNN to be more centrist, but [he is not] under control or directly involved.”
However, it’s no secret that the network has sought to reduce the inflammatory language and criticism surrounding Trump and the GOP, for which Acosta is famous.
As CNN’s White House correspondent at the time, Acosta frequently clashed with Trump before the 2016 election and throughout the Trump administration. At a 2016 news conference, Acosta began asking the then-candidate about her ability to handle the investigation, to which Trump interrupted, “Sorry, sorry, I saw you on TV. You’re a real beauty.” Ho.” After the election, Trump refused to meet with him during a press briefing, calling Acosta and CNN “fake news.”
Tensions escalated between Trump and Acosta during a White House press conference in 2018, when a reporter asked a question about calling his rhetoric a racist, to which Trump called him “a rude, horrible person.” Things came to a head when Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders accused Acosta of “putting her hand” on a White House intern and suspending White House credentials. Acosta and CNN both filed a lawsuit, which was later dropped.
In September, award-winning Washington reporter John Harwood exited CNN after attacking Trump as a “dishonest democracy” in his final on-air appearance, and Licht told staff in June that he preferred that they Stop using the term “The Big Lie”. False claims of Trump election rigging.
While Lemon has remained on the network since then, her role was shaken in September, when she was transferred from her primetime gig to lead the network’s as-yet-untitled new morning show alongside Poppy Harlow and Caitlan Collins. was.
Nicosia reacted Mediaite reports on Sunday while maintaining their original scoop. “The PR guys at CNN will defend to the end, as they did Stelter,” he tweeted, “try to find one negative post about CNN on this site in the last 5 years.”
