CNNs Paula Reid to exit network during uncertainty over David Ellison takeover: report

CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid has decided to leave the network rather than remain through David Ellison’s looming takeover of parent company Warner Bros.Discovery, according to a report.Reid, one of CNN’s most prominent legal journalists, informed management last week that she would not renew her contract when it expires later this summer despite receiving what Status described as a generous renewal offer.According to the newsletter, Reid privately raised concerns with CNN executives about Paramount Skydance’s pending $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

Discovery and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the network under Ellison’s ownership.The 43-year-old correspondent reportedly concluded that the uncertainty surrounding the merger was too great and decided against remaining at CNN.Prior to joining the cable news network in 2021, Reid spent roughly a decade at CBS News, where she covered the Justice Department and later served as a White House correspondent.She has privately expressed concern over the sweeping changes implemented at CBS News since Ellison took control of Paramount Skydance, according to Status.According to Status, CNN executives made a concerted effort to retain Reid but were unable to provide assurances about how the network would operate after the merger because they themselves have not been told what the post-merger leadership structure will look like.Reid would be the first major full-time CNN journalist to decide to leave over concerns about the network’s future under Ellison’s ownership.Status noted that technology journalist Kara Swisher has already said she will stop working with CNN once the merger closes, while other journalists are privately weighing whether to remain at the network.Questions continue to swirl about who will ultimately run CNN after the merger closes.Status has previously reported that the long-standing plan was for CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss to oversee editorial op...