Former CNN president Jeff Zucker is demanding Variety magazine retract its explosive article that claimed the media honcho pitched several billionaire investors about a potential bid for the cable network and that he worked to undermine his successor, Chris Licht, according to a report.
The Variety expose, written by Tatiana Siegel this week, had been met with fierce denials by Zucker’s camp, which took issue with him being portrayed as a jilted executive hell-bent on revenge after he was unceremoniously fired by CNN before it was bought by Warner Bros. Discovery last year.
The story left Zucker “more baffled than angry,” an individual close to the former CNN boss told The Wrap, a rival Hollywood industry publication.
Another Zucker confidante told The Wrap that longtime media executive was “stunned” the article was published and claimed that Siegel’s reporting was entirely “fabricated.”
The Wrap reported that Variety went ahead and published the story despite repeated denials from Zucker’s camp that were made before the article went live.
Reps for Zucker have now asked Variety’s parent company, Penske Media, to retract the story, according to The Wrap.
The Post has sought comment from representatives for Zucker and Penske Media.
Variety has backed Siegel, the publication’s executive editor for film and media, since the 4,500-word article was published Tuesday,
“Variety stands by our investigative story about CNN written by one of the best journalists in the business,” a rep for the outlet told CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy.
Zucker has repeatedly been linked a possible purchase of ratings-battered CNN, whose future as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s is uncertain because of the corporate parent’s huge debt load after finalized the merger.
Since his ouster, Zucker has teamed with RedBird Capital Partners, a private equity firm that is reported to have some $1 billion to spend in investments in media, sports and entertainment.
Siegel claimed that Zucker approached billionaire moguls including Jeff Bezos, Roman Abramovich, Laurene Powell Jobs, and Alex Soros about investing in a potential bid to acquire CNN.
A spokesperson for Zucker told The Post immediately after the story ran: “Any allegation or insinuation that Jeff has made any effort to purchase CNN is unequivocally false.”
“He has never had any meeting or conversation about buying CNN with anyone.”
Siegel aso reported that Licht was tricked into trashing Zucker by The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta, whose lengthy exposé about Licht turned out to be the final nail in his 13-month reign as CNN boss.
The Atlantic piece portrayed Licht as a thin-skinned executive who was looking over his shoulder while trying unsuccessfully to win the confidence of his rank-and-file, many of whom were still loyal to Zucker.
Alberta reported that Licht bragged he was able to lift heavy weights in the gym while crowing: “Zucker couldn’t do this sh-t.”
According to Variety, which cited two anonymous sources, the line had first been uttered at the gym by Alberta as he looked on, and was a phrase that Licht “merely repeated” as he pumped iron during the interview.
The suggestion that the quote was fed to Licht, however, was dismissed by Alberta in a Wednesday tweetstorm in which he slammed Siegel.
Another contentious part of Siegel’s story was that Zucker allegedly fired primetime star Chris Cuomo in late 2021 in hopes of ingratiating himself with Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who was about to become CNN’s corporate overlord.
Cuomo was fired in December 2021 after it was learned that he helped his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, strategize on how to combat sexual harassment allegations leveled by former aides.
Zucker, who maintained a years-long relationship with his top marketing officer, Allison Gollust, ended up being pushed out of his job before Zaslav’s company merged with Time Warner.
Chris Cuomo, who is currently an anchor at NewsNation, filed an arbitration case in March of last year demanding $125 million in damages.
Cuomo’s attorneys plan to call Zaslav as a witness in the case. They will argue that Zucker was angling for a promotion under his soon-to-be-boss, Zaslav, and that was why he canned Cuomo, according to Variety.
A rep for Zucker declined to comment on the claims.
“There used to be a time when Variety held its content and its reporters to a high standard of truth and facts in journalism, but those days are clearly over,” a spokesperson for Zucker told The Post earlier this week.
“It is stunning to read a piece that is so patently and aggressively false.”
“On numerous occasions, we made it clear to the reporter and her editors that they were planning to publish countless anecdotes and alleged incidents that never happened,” Zucker’s spokesperson said.
“They did so anyway. The piece is a total joke.”
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