Jeff Zucker Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jeff Zucker‘s Abu Dhabi-controlled investment group RedBird IMI is likely to be blocked by new legislation that bans the ownership of U.K. newspapers and news magazines by foreign governments.

Paramount Global shares, which soared Wednesday on news that Apollo had made an $11 billion offer for Paramount Pictures, has slumped today after a report splashed cold water on the scenario.

K.J. Yossman All3Media has finally been sold. Redbird IMI has snapped up the production-distribution giant behind “The Traitors” and Jamie Dornan-starrer “The Tourist” from owners Liberty Global and Warner Bros.

The All3Media sale saga has drawn to a close after almost a year with RedBird IMI confirming the acquisition of The Traitors superindie from Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global for £1.15B ($1.45B).

RedBird IMI, a joint venture investment firm led by Jeff Zucker, has taken a stake in The Morning Show production entity Media Res.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Martha Stewart didn’t talk to CNN for a new original documentary series the news outlet has produced about her. But she’s still the star of the show. “The Many Lives of Martha Stewart” is a four-part series produced by CNN Studios, a division devoted to longer-form and enterprise programming in the wake of a strategic decision made in 2022 to scale back big ambitions to compete in the documentary arena.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav gave former CNN chief Chris Licht a warm endorsement, even hinting at the possibility that the TV news vet could work again with the company.

Jeff Shell, whose tenure running NBCUniversal came to an abrupt end last spring, is in advanced talks to join private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jeff Zucker, the former president of CNN and onetime CEO of NBCUniversal, is eying a push by right-leaning British newspaper The Daily Telegraph into the U.S. if his company’s bid to buy the title is successful.

Jeff Zucker, former head of CNN who now runs media investment fund RedBird IMI, believes the media is overplaying polls showing former President Donald Trump leading Joe Biden.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dave O’Connor is exiting production company Majordomo Media to take over the reins of Time Studios as president. O’Connor will report to Time CEO Jessica Sibley, who announced his hiring in a memo to staff Monday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeff Zucker‘s RedBird IMI investment company has bought a minority ownership stake in Front Office Sports, a media startup covering sports business. Front Office Sports claims that it has, on a monthly basis, “more than 150 million social impressions, 35 million newsletter opens, 10 million video views and 2 million page views” The company says it has more than 15 partners, which distribute its content on screens in more than 50,000 buildings and venues across North America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director David Letterman relives his horrible “Airplane!” audition in the new oral history book, “Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True History of Airplane!,” an excerpt from which was published on Entertainment Weekly. Letterman was brought in to screen test for the lead role of Ted Striker, ultimately played by Robert Hays. “He wasn’t an actor, but he was funny.

Anderson Cooper believes the storm has passed at CNN.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rani R. Raad, a former president of CNN Commercial Worldwide, has been appointed CEO of Abu Dhabi-based media company International Media Investments.

Mark Thompson, the former CEO of The New York Times Co. and director general of the BBC, is in line to be named the next head of CNN, according to multiple press reports.

Don Lemon made his first extended comments since he was fired from CNN, telling podcast host Kara Swisher that he feels “vindicated” following the exit of CNN leadership after his departure.

Jeff Zucker was breezing through the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach when he spotted David Zaslav across the room. The former CNN chief was there on vacation on March 31, while the current Warner Bros. Discovery CEO was on hand for the Saudi-backed FII Institute’s Global Priority Summit.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Jeff Zucker is not shopping for CNN, according to one of the backing partners of his new media venture. Gerry Cardinale, the private equity player and founder of RedBird Capital, partnered with International Media Investments last year to launch a $1 billion media acquisitions engine run by Zucker. Reports were rampant in June that Zucker was looking to take CNN off the hands of Warner Bros. Discovery, after running the news network for decades before resigning in 2022 over a consensual workplace affair. “No,” Cardinale said on Thursday when asked if he and Zucker were looking to buy CNN, speaking on stage at the Variety and Sportico Sports and Entertainment Summit in West Hollywood. “I would not have the longevity that I’ve had if I ran my business running around town talking about deals in a way that’s, frankly, disrespectful to David Zaslav. I’m kind of amused and irritated by it.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After spending months keeping CNN from expanding into streaming, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery appears to have changed its mind. Warner Bros. Discovery is exploring ways to get more CNN programing on to its Max streaming service, according to a person familiar with the matter, looking at the news outlet’s broader portfolio to see what content might work. Executives will have to navigate agreements with CNN’s traditional distributors that often require cable and satellite companies get first access to CNN’s live broadcasts. Yet CNN’s rivals have grappled with similar obstacles and found ways to repurpose the news and opinion shows they run. The Fox Nation streaming outlet runs Fox News Channel’s opinion programs a day later. Fox News in 2020 unveiled a new international service that puts its programs in countries such as Mexico and Spain. MSBNC in March of last year unveiled a plan to offer episodes of “Morning Joe,” “Deadline: White House,” “The Beat with Ari Melber,” “The ReidOut,” “All In with Chris Hayes” and MSNBC’s opinion programs on the Peacock streaming hub on-demand the day after they air on cable.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer It’s hard to remember a time when fashion and beauty commentary were not ubiquitous. When red carpet pre-shows for the Oscars or the Met Gala were not the norm, or before anyone with a TikTok or Instagram account could be an obsessive pundit on celebrity style. Steven Cojocaru was there, however, at the beginning of this sartorial saturation. The Canadian writer and TV host, now 50, hustled tirelessly in his early career to get legacy media to take style as seriously as he did. He became People magazine’s first West Coast fashion editor in 1997 and was the first out gay fashion correspondent for NBC’s “Today” during the highly watched Matt Lauer and Katie Couric era.

The abrupt yet not-all-too-surprising exit of Chris Licht from CNN is a bit of a relief for staffers who thought he was the wrong person for the job, but whoever succeeds him at the cable news network will face many of the same headwinds.

Top leaders of CNN’s PR team that oversaw The Atlantic’s disastrous profile of Chris Licht have been fired, TheWrap has confirmed. EVP and global head of communications and marketing Kris Coratti Kelly and head of strategic communications Matt Dornic were among those ousted.According to a source familiar with the decision, the network began cleaning out its communications team Wednesday, just hours after the embattled CEO exited amid plunging ratings and growing discontent within his news staff. The news comes following Licht’s firing on Wednesday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Some people only get one chance to run CNN. Amy Entelis is about to embark on her second. The veteran news executive was one of three who took the reins at the Warner Bros. Discovery news outlet when Jeff Zucker, the previous chief, was forced out in February of last year after acknowledging a romantic relationship with Allison Gollust, once CNN’s chief marketing officer. Now Entelis will be part of a new trio leading the news giant after the Wednesday departure of former CEO Chris Licht. The challenges facing CNN have not diminished. Entelis will guide CNN’s news operations along with Virginia Moseley, recently named to oversee editorial operations, and Eric Sherling, recently appointed head of U.S. programming. David Leavy, a longtime Zaslav lieutenant who was named chief operating officer at CNN last week, will oversee business activities. The entire group must keep CNN moving forward as the 2024 presidential election cycle draws near, even as the outlet’s ratings have fallen and its staff has been buffeted by job cuts, programming changes and a seemingly endless cycle of senior executives coming and going.

the ousting of his handpicked CNN CEO Chris Licht in an internal memo to employees on Wednesday.“I have known Chris for many years and have enormous respect for him, personally and professionally. This job was never going to be easy, especially at a time of great disruption and transformation, and Chris poured his heart and soul into it,” Zaslav wrote.

Fox News Digital in a Wednesday report that posted just a couple of hours before Warner Bros. Discovery brass announced the ouster of CEO Chris Licht. David Zaslav handpicked Licht last April to replace Jeff Zucker, the successful but divisive longtime CNN leader ousted after disclosing an affair with one of his direct reports.

Chris Licht will be leaving CNN after just one year as chief executive and chairman.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN CEO Chris Licht will leave his post after a little more than a year at the helm after losing the support of staff and enacting a series of chaotic editorial changes under the direction of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. David Zalsalv, CEO of the embattled news outlet, told staffers Wednesday of the decision during CNN’s reglar editorial call, according to two people familiar with the matter. Amy Entelis, a longtime CNN executive who worked with previous chief Jeff Zucker and helps manage talent relations; Virginia Moseley, recenlty named to oversee editorial operations; and Eric Sherling, recently appointed head of U.S. programming, will oversee CNN for an interim period, Zaslav said. David Leavy, a longtime Zaslav lieutenant who was named chief operating officer at CNN last week, will oversee business activities.

CNN Worldwide chairman and CEO Chris Licht addressed the bombshell profile in The Atlantic in comments to network staffers on Monday, telling them, “I should not be in the news unless it’s taking arrows for you.”

The New York Times.“I gave them a gun, and they shot me with it,” Zucker said, according to those sources.Zucker’s abrupt resignation in February 2022 put a spotlight on Gollust, his longtime lieutenant and the network’s chief marketing officer. Gollust, who had worked with Zucker for decades and rejoined CNN in 2013 as his “closest colleague,” had been identified as the woman with whom he had a “consensual relationship,” which he didn’t disclose to CNN owner at the time, AT&T, in apparent violation of company policies.Gollust resigned two weeks after Zucker’s ouster and following a WarnerMedia investigation into Chris Cuomo and his efforts to help his brother, former New York Gov.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN chief Chris Licht told staffers Monday he wants to help them make the news rather than being a central figure in it. In the wake of a devastating profile of the CNN CEO published Friday by The Atlantic, Licht set about soothing frayed nerves Monday by telling employees on the news outlet’s regular morning call that “I should not be in the news unless it’s taking arrows for you. Your work is what should be written about,” according to two people familiar with the matter, The words are the first from Licht to be made public since the piece was unveiled. Thanks to a rich vein of unfettered access provided over months, the piece detailed the executive’s struggles — and some of his insecurities — during his first year on the job at the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet. David Zaslav, the CEO of the parent company, has articulated a strategy of eliminating some of the activist bent that resounded at CNN under its previous chief, Jeff Zucker. But Licht’s efforts to do so have been plagued by near-constant leaks and a restive staff, many of whom remain loyal to Licht’s predecessor, ousted after he admitted to a longstanding relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN’s former chief marketing officer.

Twitter thread by the network’s former chief media correspondent Brian Stelter. According to the profile, Licht told former president Donald Trump to “have fun” during his town hall on the network in May and knew that the crowd’s makeup skewed more towards MAGA enthusiasts than the “GOP-leaning independents” CNN originally claimed would occupy these seats.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav weighed in on CNN’s controversial decision to host a live town-hall format Q&A with former President Donald Trump — defending the decision as needing to represent “both sides.” “The U.S. has a divided government. We need to hear both voices,” Zaslav said, speaking Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about Trump’s scheduled May 10 appearance on CNN. “Republicans are on the air on CNN, Democrats are on the air… When we do politics, we need to represent both sides. I think it’s important for America.” Zaslav continued about Trump, “He’s the front-runner — he has to be on our network. We’re happy he’s coming on there.”

Donald Trump will make his first appearance on CNN in many years next week, when he appears in a town hall event sponsored by the network.

reported the news. By Friday, Quadrani had exited the network.Though concerns about Quadrani had reportedly been surfaced prior to the evidence making its way to Tapper, evidence had never been significant enough to take action.A CNN spokesperson declined to comment.

Former CNN and NBCUniversal boss Jeff Zucker, private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments have formalized plans for a joint venture.