Warner Media Head Jason Kilar Awkwardly Opens Upfront Amid Exit Reports: ‘For the Moment, It’s Still Business As Usual’

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Jason Kilar, the current (but allegedly soon-to-be-former) head of WarnerMedia, kicked off Wednesday’s upfront presentation with a video that briefly acknowledged this week’s major news – the merger of WarnerMedia and the Discovery Network – but skipped over the possibility that he may soon be leaving the top post at the company.

“Today’s pretaped event follows important news,” Kilar said, referring to the merger, which was first reported by Bloomberg on Sunday. “While there is still so much more to come, and for the moment, it’s still business as usual, we wanted to take a moment and thank you for the continued partnership.”

As Bloomberg reported, parent company AT&T is planning to spin off WarnerMedia and merge it with lifestyle channel Discovery Network. The potential $43 billion deal would bring together a wide range of channels, including HBO, CNN, HGTV, Animal Planet, and the Food Network, along with the Warner Bros. movie studio.

Kilar also appeared later in the presentation, hyping up WarnerMedia’s diverse slate of programming, growth, and closing by saying he’s “so excited about everything that’s happening here at WarnerMedia, and we look forward to doing great things together” – a statement that now seems a little bit awkward in light of the merger news and reports of Kilar’s departure from the company.

The presentation closed out with yet another appearance from Kilar – still, at the time of taping, the executive face of WarnerMedia – taking pitches from comedian Conan O’Brien, who is set to have a weekly variety show on HBO Max.