Allison Gollust, CNN's executive vice president and chief marketing officer who admitted to having a consensual relationship with her ousted boss, Jeff Zucker, is resigning from the network.
"Earlier today Allison Gollust resigned from CNN following the conclusion of the Company's investigation into issues associated with Chris Cuomo and former Governor Andrew Cuomo," WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced in a memo to staff on Tuesday.
"Based on interviews of more than 40 individuals and a review of over 100,000 texts and emails, the investigation found violations of Company policies, including CNN's News Standards and Practices, by Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust, and Chris Cuomo," Kilar wrote.
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"We have the highest standards of journalistic integrity at CNN, and those rules must apply to everyone equally. Given the information provided to me in the investigation, I strongly believe we have taken the right actions and the right decisions have been made," he added.
A spokesman for CNN confirmed Gollust's resignation to Fox News.
Jeff Zucker and Allison Gollust have been an item for years, according to a media industry veteran who worked with them roughly a decade ago. (Getty Images) (Getty Images)
However, in a stunning rebuke to WarnerMedia, Gollust issued her own statement to colleagues knocking her former employer's "disastrous handling" of the scandal.
"I had hoped to share my news with you tonight myself, and WarnerMedia had assured me I could do that. Unfortunately, they jumped the gun, breaking their promise. I am sorry you had to learn this from someone other than me," Gollust began in her message published by Puck reporter Dylan Byers.
"WarnerMedia's statement tonight is an attempt to retaliate against me and change the media narrative in the wake of their disastrous handling of the last two weeks. It is deeply disappointing that after spending the past nine years defending and upholding CNN's highest standards of journalistic integrity, I would be treated this way as I leave. But I do so with my head held high, knowing that I gave my heart and soul to working with the finest journalists in the world," she added.
CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter also shared Gollust's letter on Twitter.
FILE — Allison Gollust, communications director for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is shown in this photo, Jan. 3, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. CNN President Jeff Zucker abruptly resigned Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, after acknowledging a consensual relationship with Gollust, another network executive, ending a nine-year tenure at the helm of the one of the nation's largest media companies. Gollust, CNN’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, acknowledged the relationship in a memo of her own. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File) (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
Gollust's resignation came just days after Zucker was forced to resign for failing to acknowledge his years-long affair with his employee.
"Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years. Recently, our relationship changed during COVID. I regret that we didn't disclose it at the right time," Gollust said at the time.
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However, damning revelations have been reported since Zucker's resignation, including how his relationship with Gollust dates to 1996 when she was a "trainee" and he was the executive producer of NBC's "Today" show and how the two of them fed "talking points" to Gollust's old boss, Andrew Cuomo, to combat attacks from then-President Trump in the early months of the COVID pandemic.
The CNN lovebirds were also reportedly "instrumental" in the televised Cuomo Brothers interviews in 2020, and Gollust personally appealed to the governor to continue his CNN appearances when his office began resisting.
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