CNN chief marketing officer resigns two weeks after partner’s resignation
February 25, 2022
About two weeks after her partner resigned over their relationship, CNN Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Allison Gollust resigned from her position on Feb. 15.
Former CNN President Jeff Zucker resigned on Feb. 2 after the company was made aware of a consensual romantic relationship between him and Gollust: the two had failed to report the start of the affair. By not reporting the relationship at its conception, the couple violated CNN’s News Standards and Practices policies.
Zucker’s and Gollust’s relationship was discovered during an investigation into former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s involvement in scandals regarding his older brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
As part of the investigation, 40 CNN staff members were interviewed, and Zucker ended up being asked about his relationship with Gollust.
“Earlier today, Allison Gollust resigned from CNN following the conclusion of the company’s investigation into issues associated with Chris Cuomo and former Governor Andrew Cuomo,” CNN parent company WarnerMedia’s CEO, Jason Kilar, wrote in a memo to CNN staff. “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.”
After news of Zucker’s resignation broke, Gollust said publicly that she would not be leaving CNN or her position.
After Kilar’s announcement on Feb. 15, Gollust sent a letter to CNN staff that expressed displeasure with her own exit from the company, calling into question if she willingly resigned or if she was forced out of the company.
“WarnerMedia’s statement tonight is an attempt to retaliate against me and change the media narrative in the wake of their disastrous handling of the last two weeks,” she wrote in her statement. “It is deeply disappointing that after spending the past nine years defending and upholding CNN’s highest standards of journalistic integrity, I would be treated this way as I leave. But I do so with my head held high, knowing that I gave my heart and soul to working with the finest journalists in the world.”
However, Kilar said he supports Gollust’s decision to step down from her role within the company.
“We have the highest standards of journalistic integrity at CNN, and those rules must apply to everyone equally,” his memo continued. “Given the information provided to me in the investigation, I strongly believe we have taken the right actions and the right decisions have been made.”
Zucker did not comment on Gollust’s resignation.