AT&T, Discovery CEOs Praise Jeff Zucker Despite ‘Unfortunate’ Ouster From CNN

DIscovery CEO David Zaslav appeared on CNBC Friday morning, where he declined to discuss Wednesday’s ouster of CNN President Jeff Zucker under Warner Media. AT&T CEO John Stankey, whose company currently oversees WarnerMedia, called it “unfortunate.”

“Jeff is a good friend of mine. I can’t speak to this issue. We don’t own the company yet. We’re not involved in any of that,” said Zaslav, whose close relationship with Zucker is well known and who was expected to give the resigned president a top role within the restructured company.

Stankey added, “Jeff resigned, and the decision to resign was Jeff’s decision and it is an unfortunate set of circumstances.”

That contradicts reporting from earlier in the week, which suggested Zucker did not want to resign but was forced by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. Zucker resigned Wednesday, citing his romantic relationship with another CNN executive, Allison Gollust. He said he did not disclose the relationship when he should have.

Stankey also sidestepped a question about why Gollust is remaining at the network despite her romantic relationship with Zucker. “Allison, her circumstances are different,” he said, “and I don’t want to get involved in discussing her situation.”

The news of the resignation sent shockwaves through the media industry this week. Savvy observers questioned whether it was a revenge plot by former 9 p.m. ET anchor Chris Cuomo, who lost Zucker’s confidence in the fall, was fired and will not be receiving severance.