WarnerMedia Chief Grilled During Emloyee Town Hall

Jason Kilar

WarnerMedia Chief Executive Jason Kilar was subject to intense criticism during a meeting with CNN employees Wednesday evening, where he was grilled over his decision that CNN President Jeff Zucker should step down after Kilar learned the network boss had a romantic relationship with CNN’s marketing chief, reports The Wall Street Journal.

During an hourlong meeting with Kilar, CNN anchors and employees expressed frustration that Mr. Zucker didn’t get a second chance after disclosing his relationship with Allison Gollust and asked why Zucker was replaced abruptly. Kilar declined to answer questions about the timeline of Mr. Zucker’s departure, though he said that he followed a process “with an appropriate sense of urgency.”

Jeff Zucker

“I wasn’t focused on the business of it all,” Kilar said. He said he was primarily focused “on the values that we stand for as a company.”

Kilar said there are no plans to issue additional information about the investigation, which he said is complete.

Many of the executives and anchors Kilar addressed at CNN’s offices in Washington, D.C., were hired and promoted by Zucker, and some are loyal to him, according to people familiar with the matter.

During the question-and-answer session, anchor Jake Tapper said that Chris Cuomo hired a lawyer who seemed eager to leak damaging information about Zucker unless they gave Mr. Cuomo severance.

Zucker, who is 56 years old, disclosed the relationship with Gollust in recent days during an investigation into former CNN host Chris Cuomo.

Cuomo was fired by CNN in December after the investigation found he improperly helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, respond to accusations of sexual misconduct.