CNN’s Paula Reid To Exit Ahead of Paramount Takeover: Report

CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid will be exiting the network ahead of a Paramount Skydance takeover, according to new reports.

Reid has declined to renew her contract with the network as a merger between Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, and David Ellison’s Paramount looms, former CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy reported in his Status newsletter, adding that Reid’s contract is up this summer. The legal analyst has still been seen plenty on CNN, covering the latest Supreme Court rulings.

Darcy reported that Reid raised “concerns” about the $110 billion merger and “expressed discomfort with the takeover and the uncertainty it has cast over CNN’s future.”

Reid would be the first major CNN face to leave the network over the merger, though reports have indicated that many employees are concerned about Ellison’s company taking over, noting Ellison’s relationship to President Donald Trump — his father Larry Ellison is a major donor — and his recent takeover of Paramount where he’s put in place controversial reforms and staffing changes at CBS News and, specifically, 60 Minutes.

The New York Times’ Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin reported last week that tensions are running high at CNN and the office of Amy Entelis, CNN’s executive in charge of on-air talent, has become a “psychiatrist’s couch” as on-air talent and correspondents fear the implications of the merger.

That report also indicted Anderson Cooper had expressed behind the scenes that he has no interest in working for CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who was put in her position to overhaul the outlet last year by Ellison. Cooper briefly overlapped with Weiss at 60 Minutes, but left his correspondent position earlier this year.

Weiss would reportedly be up for a major role overseeing CNN once the merger goes through, something CNN head Mark Thompson has said he has no interest in being involved in, according to The Times.

CNN tech journalist Kara Swisher has openly said she will refuse to work at the network anymore should Thompson be moved out of his role.

“So far, there’s nothing I’ve seen that indicates that they’re serious about creating a modern digital news organization,” she told The Times.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!