‘HEAR HER OUT’

CNN Leaned on Andrew Cuomo to Reopen Movie Theaters Mid-COVID: Report

WarnerMedia studio chief Ann Sarnoff was “bummed,” CNN’s then-CMO texted the governor.

In September 2020, Allison Gollust, then the chief marketing officer at CNN, texted then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (the brother of Chris Cuomo, a CNN host at the time) about a grievance from the head of CNN’s parent company, Semafor reports. “[WarnerMedia studio chief Ann Sarnoff is] bummed you don’t open theaters in NY, but perhaps you can hear her out,” Gollust texted Cuomo. At the time, WarnerMedia was pushing hard for the theatrical release of its thrice-delayed Christopher Nolan blockbuster Tenet, which eventually got a select theaters release date in the U.S. on Sept. 3. Sarnoff watched Tenet in-person at a movie theater in Greenwich, Connecticut on September 2, 2020. “I can’t tell you how exciting it was,” Sarnoff told Variety at the time. “It felt so good to go see a movie with friends. It felt incredibly safe. We weren’t crowded together. We all had reserved seats and we were socially distanced.” On Oct. 17, 2020, Andrew Cuomo announced that movie theaters in the state outside of New York City could reopen on Oct. 23.