CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker has stepped down after failing to disclose his consensual relationship with a colleague.
Zucker, who helped shape the news company when he took over in 2013, is said to have either resigned or faced termination for not revealing his relationship with someone he was working closely with.
CNN reported that the company’s president divulged his relationship only when investigations were launched against former news anchor Chris Cuomo’s case on inappropriately advising his brother Andrew Cuomo against assault allegations against him.
According to WarnerMedia’s (CNN’s parent company) Standards of Business Conduct handbook, employees must not hire or supervise (directly or indirectly) someone with whom they have a personal relationship. The company also requires individuals in a position to influence the employment, advancement, or hiring of someone with whom they have a personal relationship or a business they are associated with or have an interest in, to inform the HR department in advance of taking any action. “As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years. I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong. As a result, I am resigning today,” he said in a memo.