OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
CNN has had a number of scandals in recent times as its ratings continue to be at the bottom of cable news. The top producer for CNN anchor Jake Tapper has been axed by the network after a sex scandal involving “hooking up with a subordinate,” was discovered.
“The Lead with Jake Tapper executive producer Federico Quadrani’s firing was first reported by the New York Post and confirmed by two sources close to the situation. A CNN insider told Fox News Digital that “complaints were made” about Quadrani, and last Wednesday someone brought direct evidence of the inappropriate relationship directly to Tapper,” Fox News reported.
“The CNN anchor then went to human resources and informed executives, and his top producer was fired by Friday. CNN declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital. The Post referred to Quadrani as Tapper’s ‘right-hand man’ who worked with the CNN anchor for a decade. Tapper joined CNN in 2013 after a tenure at ABC News,” the outlet added.
“There were some complaints. No one had proof, and these things are hard to prove. Jake was aware of the investigation,” a source said to The Post.
The investigation was just about done when Tapper was “presented with something that he couldn’t ignore” last week.
“Jake was made aware of it and acted quickly. Someone discovered something accidentally and brought it to Tapper. He delivered it to [human resources], and they were terminated,” another source said.
It comes around a year after former CNN head Jeff Zucker had to resign for his own sex scandal. And it comes as CNN continues to suffer from low ratings.
Longtime CNN anchor Don Lemon just got brutal news after an off-air tirade against his own co-host Kaitlan Collins.
“CNN This Morning” — which is co-hosted by Lemon, Collins, and Poppy Harlow — is the network’s lowest-rated morning show in nearly a decade. CNN has struggled for years to keep pace with its cable news competitors Fox News and MSNBC during the morning hours, but it hasn’t been this bad in a long time.
“Since its Nov. 1, 2022 launch, “CNN This Morning” has drawn in the lowest viewership among adults 25-54, the key demographic for cable news, and the second-lowest total viewership among each iteration of the network’s morning programming since “New Day” was launched in June 2013, according to Nielsen data,” The Wrap reported. “Specifically, Lemon has sunk total viewership of 16.2% compared to the most recent iteration of New Day. In the demo, viewership has decreased by 21% with the show’s first three months on-air. ‘CNN This Morning’ draws fewer than 400,000 viewers a day.”
The show’s plummeting ratings come as Lemon has made quite a few headlines in recent weeks.
Lemon rattled his fellow morning show talent as well as crew following an off-camera confrontation with co-host Collins, during which he “screamed” at her for allegedly interrupting him on the air.
According to the New York Post, a number of sources described the incident and the aftermath on the set of “CNN This Morning.” Tensions are rising as the show tanks and as Lemon, apparently, is unhappy sharing on-air duties.
The Post noted:
According to two sources with knowledge of the situation, the 56-year-old Lemon approached 30-year-old Collins following the show’s Thursday, Dec. 8 broadcast — and unloaded on her in front of staffers as he accused her of “interrupting” him on air.
News of the explosive incident made its way up to CNN CEO Chris Licht, who is said to have been appalled by Lemon’s behavior, according to a source. A second source said a producer talked to Lemon at the behest of Licht and told the anchor to take the next day off to “cool off.”
“Don screamed at Kaitlan, who was visibly upset and ran out of the studio,” one source with knowledge of the incident told The Post.
Don Lemon 'screamed' at 'CNN This Morning' co-host, left crew 'rattled': sources https://t.co/WKdXwreoJO pic.twitter.com/GKuU3Xu357
— New York Post (@nypost) February 2, 2023
The outlet reported as well that the night after the incident, Lemon, Harlow, and Collins were scheduled to get drinks and travel together to a White House Christmas party for media figures, the source noted. However, the gathering never took place and the three traveled to the party separately, said “an insider.” Following the party, Lemon and his agent, Jay Sures, had a late-night dinner, sources added.
