ALLISON GOLLUST HAS RESIGNED FROM CNN FOLLOWING WARNERMEDIA PROBE OF CUOMO, ZUCKER:
Allison Gollust, the chief marketing officer at CNN, has resigned from the network following a WarnerMedia investigation into “issues associated with Chris Cuomo and former Governor Andrew Cuomo,” according to a memo from Jason Kilar, the company’s CEO.
“Performed by a third-party law firm and led by a former federal judge, the investigation was comprehensive and definitive. It was commissioned in September and concluded this weekend, which now allows me to share additional information with you,” Kilar said. ” Based on interviews of more than 40 individuals and a review of over 100,000 texts and emails, the investigation found violations of Company policies, including CNN’s News Standards and Practices, by Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust, and Chris Cuomo.”
As The Wrap noted at the start of the month, Gollust, “who had worked with Zucker for decades and rejoined CNN in 2013 as his ‘closest colleague,’ has been identified as the woman with whom Zucker had a ‘consensual relationship’ that he did not disclose to CNN owner AT&T in apparent violation of company policies:”
“Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years. Recently, our relationship changed during COVID. I regret that we didn’t disclose it at the right time,” Gollust said in a statement on Wednesday. “I’m incredibly proud of my time at CNN, and look forward to continuing the great work we do every day.”
Many media insiders have questioned that the pair’s romance only began in the last two years; Zucker and his wife Caryn Nathanson separated in 2018 and later divorced; Gollust is also divorced from her husband, Tradewell Markets president William Hult. The couple have two children, Olivia and Ava.
In her 2021 memoir “Going There,” Katie Couric recalled how Zucker pressed her to hire Gollust to handle publicity on her short-lived syndicated show “Katie” (2012-14). “I had to wonder why Jeff was angling so hard to bring Allison on board. She and her husband and kids had moved into the apartment right above Jeff and Caryn’s—everyone who heard about their cozy arrangement thought it was super strange,” Couric wrote. “By that point, Caryn (Zucker’s ex-wife) had become a close friend and it made me really uncomfortable.”
According to Zucker himself, Gollust has been his “closest colleague” for two decades now, first at NBCUniversal — where he served as president and chief executive of the company and she was the EVP of corporate communications.
Gollust briefly served as the communications director for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo before rejoining Zucker at CNN shortly after he was named the network’s president in 2013.
As the New York Post reported on February 3rd: Zucker, Gollust’s cozy ties with Andrew Cuomo included coaching him on COVID briefings.
UPDATE: Here we go!
(Updated and bumped.)