CNN faces new turmoil amid Cuomo probe
'Media Buzz' host Howard Kurtz has the latest on Chris Cuomo being accused of sexual assault in 2011 on 'The Story.'
Media insiders think high-powered CNN executive Amy Entelis must be experiencing déjà vu running a scandal-plagued network after previously overseeing ABC News’s "toxic" workplace.
Entelis, who joined CNN in 2012, is part of the trio of CNN’s interim leaders in the wake of the stormy exits of network star anchor Chris Cuomo, CNN President Jeff Zucker, and his girlfriend and fellow CNN executive, Allison Gollust.
CNN exec Amy Entelis cut her teeth at ABC News where she held multiple high-level positions over 30 years. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for New York Magazine)
Entelis, along with Michael Bass and Ken Jautz, are now tasked with running a strife-filled news operation filled with staffers who openly mourned Zucker and don’t know what to expect when a long-planned merger by parent company WarnerMedia with Discovery finally becomes official this spring. All the drama occurs as the network is still recovering from longtime producer John Griffin’s December firing after he was charged with shocking child sex crimes.
CNN AND THE TERRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD YEAR
But this isn’t the first time Entelis has overseen a troubled news division.
Entelis cut her teeth at ABC News where she held multiple high-level positions over 30 years and oversaw talent when the network hired future CNN personalities including Cuomo, Jake Tapper and Jim Sciutto. While ABC News served as a breeding ground for CNN, it also had a newsroom filled with headline-making issues of its own.
The Disney-owned news operation was known to be cold and unsympathetic to rank-and-file staffers, where the top priority for bloodless executives was to keep broadcasting legends Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer happy.
"ABC News is notorious for its toxic culture and Amy presided over that for many years," a longtime media executive close to the situation told Fox News Digital. "Where is the accountability?"
Amy Entelis, along with Michael Bass and Ken Jautz, are running CNN on an interim basis. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Turner) (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Turner)
In one of the most public examples of lewd behavior at ABC News, political journalist Mark Halperin apologized at the height of the #MeToo movement for sexual harassment allegations made against him while he was employed with the ABC News during Entelis’ time as a top executive. Halperin was accused of grabbing a woman’s breasts without consent and pressing his clothed and erect penis against three of his female co-workers.
At the time, several employees suggested that his behavior was common knowledge and former ABC correspondent Clarissa Ward, who now also works at CNN, even tweeted Halperin's behavior "was an open secret" when she was with the network.
"There’s no way [Entelis] didn’t know about Mark Halperin’s disgusting behavior," the media industry veteran said. "Amy wasn’t just around, she was in charge of talent … Effectively HR for the editorial staff."
A longtime friend of Entelis reached out to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity and insisted she didn't know about Halperin's wrongdoings at the time.
Meanwhile Cuomo, who followed Entelis to CNN, recently denied claims published by The New York Times that he badgered a woman for sex and then assaulted her at ABC News’ headquarters in 2011.
Chris Cuomo recently denied claims published by The New York Times that he badgered a woman for sex and then assaulted her at ABC News’ headquarters in 2011. (CNN)
Earlier this month, CNN senior vice president of programming Jim Murphy – who also previously worked at ABC News – reportedly suggested that Zucker could have kept his gig by explaining that ABC protected its top earners despite "abhorrent behavior" for the good of the company.
"That behavior was when Amy oversaw personnel," the media executive close to the situation said. "Everyone knew there was nowhere to turn if you were abused or bullied."
Murphy has since claimed he was taken out of context.
"My point was if all HR rules are completely inviolable the media industry will need to deal with quite a lot of bad behavior. And I am fully supportive of that," he tweeted.
Murphy declined a request for additional comment.
WARNERMEDIA WON’T SAY WHAT OUSTED CNN BOSS JEFF ZUCKER DID TO VIOLATE NEWS STANDARDS
CNN initially claimed Zucker was forced to resign because of an inappropriate, consensual relationship with Gollust, but parent company WarnerMedia has since admitted the liberal power couple also violated the network’s "journalism integrity."
WarnerMedia initially claimed Jeff Zucker was forced out because of a consensual sexual relationship, but since admitted he also violated the network’s "journalism integrity." (Getty images) (Getty images | REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo)
But when Murphy indicated Zucker’s relationship with a subordinate might have been protected at ABC, he could have been evoking former ABC News president David Westin, who proposed to ABC public relations executive Sherrie Rollins in 1998 when he was still married to his prior wife, Victoria.
Vanity Fair reported in 1997 that then-ABC president Bob Iger was also dating a subordinate and couldn’t reprimand Westin because of a "glass house" situation. Westin’s affair occurred when he was ABC’s general counsel, before he landed the coveted role overseeing the network’s news division. But at the time, some ABC staffers felt he was selected by Iger to succeed the legendary Roone Alredge simply to separate him from Rollins, who reported directly to Westin before his promotion.
Westin was never publicly disciplined for his affair with Rollins, who left ABC for a high-profile gig at Sesame Street after she agreed to marry her former boss. The relationship was water under the bridge by the time Westin took over the news division, where he was believed to be extremely close with Entelis.
Westin was able to survive his tabloid-headline making extramarital affair, but times have changed since the late 1990s and Zucker’s relationship with Gollust was seen as scandalous enough for CNN to initially declare it was why he was forced to resign. One person who was around for both ordeals was Entelis, who has now played key roles at two different embattled news operations.
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"All she cared about was keeping top talent happy and insulating David Westin from everything," the longtime media executive said.
It’s unclear how long Entelis will remain in power, as CNN has indicated Discovery plans to appoint a new leader "right away" when the expected merger is finalized, effectively putting an expiration date on the network’s current regime.
Entelis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News’ David Rutz contributed to this report.
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