CNN Castoff Chris Cillizza Destroys WBD Boss David Zaslav for ‘Idiotic’ 180 on ‘Max’ Name Change: ‘Amazing to Me’ He ‘Still Has a Job’
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Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza is lashing out at the top executive of CNN’s parent company Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) following a sudden 180 on a move Cillizza considered to be “always idiotic.”
In a post to X on Wednesday, Cillizza torched WBD chief David Zaslav following the announcement that the company’s streaming service, called Max, will revert to its previous name of HBO Max. Cillizza argued the flip-flop makes him “question whether this guy should be making $40+ million a year.”
“Max is now changing its name BACK to HBO Max — two years after they abandoned ‘HBO,'” Cillizza wrote. “Which was always idiotic since HBO is an amazing brand associated with high-end and critically acclaimed programming.”
Cillizza also questioned the move to end its CNN+ streaming service just days after its debut in 2022, only to launch a new CNN streaming service this coming fall.
“I am not saying CNN+ was a perfect idea but why kill a streaming service only to start it again three years later (and WAY after all of your competitors are in the space???),” Cillizza wrote.
The former CNN analyst — who currently has a Substack page and serves as a NewsNation contributor — stated at the top of his X post that the network had laid him off in 2023, but insisted he does not have “sour grapes.”
“Navigating the media landscape as the head of a massive legacy company is not easy,” Cillizza wrote. “I grant that. But committing obvious errors like this? It’s amazing to me that the Zaslav still has a job — much less that he is making tens of millions doing it.”
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