CN END

CNN Boss’s Failed Bid to Stop Star’s Exit Revealed

Network chief Mark Thompson personally begged the legendary international anchor to stick around.

Top CNN brass mounted a quiet, unsuccessful campaign to stop their premier international anchor from walking out the door, it has been revealed.

Mark Thompson’s secret effort to salvage the relationship with Christiane Amanpour collapsed after months of high-stakes talks over the outlet’s future.

HEADING OUT

CNN Star Announces Shock Exit After 43 Years

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The chief executive personally appealed to Amanpour, pleading with her to stay at the news organization until there was greater certainty about what leadership would look like under incoming owner Skydance, according to Status.

Amanpour had expressed concern over Skydance’s acquisition of CNN. The media giant, which also owns CBS News, is run by Trumpy CEO David Ellison.

Despite Thompson’s direct plea, the network icon turned it down.

The news caught most of the network by surprise, sparking immediate waves through the media world.

Amanpour, 68, announced her upcoming departure in a bombshell public statement, confirming her plans to step away next summer.

“After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years!” she said. She added that she “looks forward to interesting new projects down the line, and will always be rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism. Remember: always be truthful, not neutral.”

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Personal health considerations also played a role in Amanpour’s decision to leave.

The two-time cancer survivor revealed last year that her ovarian cancer had returned for a third time, while maintaining that it was “being very well managed.”

After weighing her future and agonizing over what precisely she wanted to do next, she determined her time at the network had run its course.

In an internal memo to staff, Thompson acknowledged his failed pitch. “Christiane has thought carefully about this decision, and she and I have been discussing it for some months,” Thompson wrote.

“Like so many CNNers who will hear the news today, I’m very sorry to see her go, but I’ve come to accept that this is the right time for her, both personally and professionally.”

The exit caps a legendary run that started in 1983, when she joined as an entry-level news desk assistant in Atlanta.

“Famously, one of her bosses told her back then that she didn’t have what it took to become a foreign correspondent – or to hold any on-air role at all,” Thompson wrote. “Boy, did she prove him wrong!”

Her international program will shrink to once a week early next year before concluding in May, while her PBS show will end in December.

Meanwhile, her podcast The Ex Files, which she co-hosts with her ex-husband and former U.S. diplomat Jamie Rubin, will continue.

CNN has been contacted for comment.

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