WarnerMedia’s James Anderson has been tapped to lead communications at CNN Worldwide after former chief marketing officer Allison Gollust resigned on Tuesday, according to an internal memo sent to staff Wednesday.
Anderson will now serve as interim head of communications at the network in addition to his role as head of corporate communications and marketing at WarnerMedia.
Rick Lewchuk, CNN’s SVP of marketing and brand standards, will continue to oversee news marketing efforts for the network in Gollust’s absence.
Gollust’s resignation followed a WarnerMedia investigation into Chris Cuomo and his efforts to help his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Details of the investigation came two weeks after Jeff Zucker, former CNN president, resigned abruptly over failing to disclose his relationship with Gollust, who previously worked with him at NBCUniversal. Gollust was identified earlier this month as the woman with whom Zucker had a “consensual relationship” that he did not disclose to CNN owner AT&T in apparent violation of company policies.
A memo on Tuesday from WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said, “The investigation found violations of Company policies, including CNN’s News Standards and Practices, by Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust, and Chris Cuomo.”
Gollust immediately fired back with a statement of her own, sent to her staff: “WarnerMedia’s statement tonight is an attempt to retaliate against me and change the media narrative in the wake of their disastrous handling of the last two weeks,” she wrote.
Many insiders recently told TheWrap they could not see how Gollust would continue to play a major role in the network going forward, with one former CNN senior exec previously saying, “Doesn’t it give him a continued ability to influence the organization, given how much power she had there and how close he and Allison are? Like when a baseball manager is thrown out by the umpires but he hides in the tunnel to the dugout whispering instructions to his bench coach.”