Inside the battle for CNN: Jeff Zucker, David Zaslav, Chris Licht and 18 months of crazy backstabbing

By Matt Collins Article may include affiliate links

As Jeff Zucker strolled through the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach, his eyes caught sight of David Zaslav on the other side of the room. This encounter took place on March 31, with Zucker enjoying a vacation while Zaslav attended the Saudi-backed FII Institute’s Global Priority Summit in his capacity as the current CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery.

In the midst of corporate leaders engaging in conversation with Saudi princesses, Zucker approached Zaslav, his eyes welling up with tears. Sources familiar with the conversation revealed that Zucker expressed his grievances about Chris Licht, his successor at CNN, who, according to Zucker, was unjustly tarnishing his reputation in the media. Zucker vehemently asserted that he would never resort to such underhanded tactics himself.

This assertion seemed peculiar since, up to that point, Licht had only been involved in a single published profile with The New York Times’ James B. Stewart, and that article had made no mention of Zucker whatsoever.

Read more at Variety.