OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
The 7 CNN employees who were recently forced out in disgrace include anchor Chris Cuomo, president Jeff Zucker, senior producer John Griffin, producer Rick Saleeby, supervising producer Steve Brusk, host Elliot Spitzer, and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Back in 2005, Tim Meads of the Daily Wire notes how CNN founder Ted Turner complained about this network spending too much time reporting on perverts.
“We have a lot of perverts on today and I know that, but is that really news?” Turner said. “You’ve got to cover Michael Jackson, but not three stories about perversion that we do every day as well.”
Nearly two decades later, allegations stemming from Turner’s own company suggest the perverts moved in-house.
Allegations against CNN Senior Producer John Griffin are incredibly disturbing. In 2021, Griffin was fired after being charged with attempting to induce young girls into sexual activity.
He allegedly flew young girls across the country to meet him. In one instance, he allegedly transferred over $3,000 to the mother of a 9-year-old so the two of them could fly from Nevada to Boston. Griffin faces numerous felony charges which carry a 10-year prison sentence each.
CNN Producer Rick Saleeby is accused of fantasizing about raping children, according to Project Veritas:
Shortly after the undercover investigative journalism outlet released a video allegedly revealing Saleeby to be a child predator in late 2021 through texts and FaceTimes, the Fairfax County Police launched an investigation into the man.
Following the PV videos, however, Saleeby resigned. All Fairfax PD has said about the matter is that in part they “will eventually be transparent about our findings, safeguarding the personal privacy and safety of victims and witnesses as well as maintaining the integrity of our criminal investigation are of paramount importance…” and that “Detectives assigned to the Child Exploitation Squad of the Major Crimes Bureau are leading the investigation,” into Saleeby.
CNN Supervising Producer Steve Brusk is accused of “making advances” at female employees. He allegedly would “put his arms around them,” “try and touch their leg,” and was “flirty and inappropriate.”
CNN Host Elliot Spitzer was caught in a New York prostitution ring:
Spitzer resigned in 2008 after he was busted making at least seven to eight trips to a high end prostitution ring, spending upwards of $15,000, though prosecutors stated that it was closer to $80,000. Spitzer was never charged because, according to authorities, he never misused public funds or campaign funds for his dalliances.
CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is accused of impregnating his mistress and pressuring her into getting an abortion.
In 2021, he was caught masturbating while on a video Zoom work call with his colleagues who could see him. Toobin claimed that he believed he was off-camera.
This terrible excuse only made matters worse and failed to provide justification for his actions. It would still be perverted and inappropriate to masterbate during a non-video work call with his colleagues.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is accused of playing an active role to smear women whom accused his brother of serious allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. Cuomo shamefully assisted in the sexual harassment media defense of his brothers.
Making matters even worse, Chris has also been accused of sexual harrssment. Attorney Debra Katz is representing an accuser against Cuomo. Following this allegation, Cuomo was fired by CNN.
CNN President Jeff Zucker resigned after the investigation into former employee Cuomo revealed that the media leader had a consensual, non-disclosed relationship with one of his colleagues, Allison Gollust.
Sources say it was an “open secret” which has been going on for years, including while the two were married:
If it were a consensual relationship between two adults after a divorce, that does not necessarily make it “perversion” — as CNN’s founder might have complained about so many years ago. If they were having an affair, which Couric hints she believed may have been the case, then this is obviously a bigger scandal.
But for now, the real perversion here is a disorder of the mind on two-parts; Zucker’s judgment is distorted for not thinking he had to disclose it. Gollust also apparently received promotions as Zucker rose the ranks. That clearly looks bad.