Legal journalist Ashleigh Banfield is returning to Court TV, the network announced Monday.
Banfield, who was on Court TV’s original lineup, will be a special contributor, appearing on the live show each night at 8:00 p.m. ET with anchors Vinnie Politan, Julie Grant and Ted Rowlands.
“Ashleigh’s Court TV reunion appearance with Vinnie during the Harvey Weinstein trial sparked a conversation and mutual-interest in working together. We’re thrilled to have her back on the network on a regular basis,” Court TV Vice President Scott Tufts explained said of the move in a statement:
Prior to becoming Court TV’s new special contributor, Banfield anchored CNN’s “Legal View With Ashleigh Banfield” and HLN’s “Primetime Justice With Ashleigh Banfield.” She also hosted a “Live PD” spin-off, “Live Rescue,” on A&E.
Banfield departed HLN, CNN’s sister network, in 2018 along with Carol Costello and Michaela Pereira.
“The current cable news landscape is dominated by politics. Our live news shows have not benefitted from this trend given our story mix,” said Ken Jautz, the CNN executive VP who heads up HLN, in a staff memo at the time that was obtained by TheWrap. “However, HLN’s longform programs have been performing very well.”
The original Court TV signed off in 2008 but returned last year. Before then, it ran for more than 20 years and gained mainstream attention for providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of the O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, and Casey Anthony murder trials.