A top CNN executive lobbied then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to open movie theaters at the height of the COVID pandemic on behalf of the network’s corporate parent while the network was pushing coronavirus panic on-air, according to a new report.
In September 2020, COVID coverage was largely dominating cable news and CNN famously kept the death tracker on screen on a regular basis. At the time, CNN’s parent company was WarnerMedia, which had a financial interest in movie theaters re-opening to coincide with the release of Christopher Nolan's big-budgeted movie "Tenet."
Then-CNN primetime host Chris Cuomo frequently invited his brother, who was governor of New York at the time, for interviews at the outset of the pandemic that aroused significant controversy.
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In the years since, then-CNN president Jeff Zucker and then-CNN marketing chief Allison Gollust – who had previously worked for Gov. Cuomo. -- were both forced out of the company. Their exit was initially chalked up to a consensual relationship that was never disclosed to the company, but CNN staffers and outside observers alike never bought that explanation, as their relationship was said to be an "open secret."
It was later revealed that both former executives violated company policies related directly to news, issues that were found during a third-party probe into CNN’s handling of the Cuomo siblings. The younger Cuomo, who was fired by Zucker in 2021, is seeking millions from CNN for wrongful termination.
Semafor reported that previously undisclosed text messages indicate Gollust was doing more than just work on behalf of CNN when she involved herself with the governor.
"She crossed over into advocating for the business interests of CNN’s parent company, texting a request that the governor speak to WarnerMedia’s studio chief, Ann Sarnoff," Semafor reported, citing a text message "read to Semafor by a person with firsthand access to the exchange."
Gollust reportedly told the governor, "She's bummed you don't open theaters in NY, but perhaps you can hear her out."
"The next day, Cuomo heeded Gollust’s request and called Sarnoff, who lobbied the governor to loosen restrictions on movie theaters, according to a person familiar with the exchange," Semafor reported.
Gollust did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WarnerMedia has since spun off CNN as part of a long-planned merger that put the scandal-plagued news organization under the control of Warner Bros. Discovery. But fallout from the Zucker era continues to haunt the network, which recently fired successor Chris Licht, who struggled to win over skeptical staffers.
CNN’s COVID coverage during the period around the reported text was recently criticized by Licht, who offended staffers by telling a reporter CNN unduly hyped COVID for ratings.
Semafor reporter Max Tani wrote that the Gollust-Cuomo text exchange "feels like ancient history" but "undermines some of what central players have claimed about the messy 2021 CNN scandals."
"WarnerMedia fired Zucker and Gollust in 2021, expressing shock at how close they were to the governor. It’s hard to square that shock with their using the relationship to lobby him," Tani wrote. "The close ties between the governor and the network in the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic extended far beyond the relationship between Andrew Cuomo and his brother."
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Tani added, "While Zucker’s defenders rolled their eyes at the notion that media executives shouldn’t talk regularly to politicians, the September 22 texts strayed into questions of government policy and corporate favor-seeking."
Zucker and Gollust are both expected to be grilled when arbitration with Chris Cuomo begins later this month.
Former Gov. Cuomo resigned in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal.
Warner Bros. Discovery declined comment.
