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CNN reporter Paula Reid is leaving the MS NOW network over concerns about the network’s acquisition of Paramount Skydance, according to a report in Variety on Wednesday.
“Reid turned down an opportunity to renew his contract at CNN, according to two people familiar with the situation, because CNN’s next season appears to be in turmoil,” Variety reported.
The article noted that Reid’s decision allegedly came out of concern about Paramount CEO David Ellison taking over the network and possibly installing CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as CNN’s head.
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CNN legal reporter Paula Reid is reportedly leaving the network for MS NOW. (Taylor Hill/WireImage via Getty Images)
“Paramount has hinted that it sees Bari Weiss, the CBS News editor-in-chief who has caused several public controversies, as the next CNN boss,” Variety reported.
Reid first joined CNN in 2021 after serving as a White House correspondent for CBS News.
Neither MS NOW nor CNN has confirmed this news to Fox News Digital.
“As a general matter, we do not comment on personnel matters,” an MS NOW spokesperson said in a statement. “As everyone in Washington knows, Paula Reid is an outstanding reporter, and any news organization would be lucky to feature her journalism.”
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CNN declined to comment.
A report by Fox News Digital in February found that the mood inside CNN was “somber” as parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is preparing to sell all of its assets to Paramount. In the report, a CNN insider suggested that talent might flee CNN before Ellison’s takeover if they could afford it.
CNN employees and reporters have expressed concern about Paramount owner David Ellison’s possible installation of CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as head of the network. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images; James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images; Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press)
A second insider said the two main concerns are “job loss” and “organizational indifference,” noting that they “overwhelm” the latter. In particular, CNN employees are concerned about the potential “bloodbath” if CBS News and CNN were to merge.
Some CNN personalities have also publicly criticized this encounter. CNN reporter Kara Swisher previously vowed to leave the network when Ellison takes over in March.
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Veteran CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour described feeling “concerned” about the new leadership in May, pointing to past stories about CBS News’ “60 Minutes” anchors.
“I’m concerned based on what’s happened to other things that have already taken over, like CBS news, right?” Amanpour said. “I mean, do I have to write what’s going on there? I mean, the viewers are tying, maybe hemorrhaging money, this rebranding of CBS and the destruction, possibly, of ’60 Minutes.’
CNN declined to comment on the report of Reid’s departure. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Fox News’ Brian Flood and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
