MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Brian Stelter next in line of fire at CNN, staffers angry he knew about Jeff Zucker affair

'He is truly terrible at his job,' slammed one CNN employee as anger turned to Stelter for failure to report on Zucker's well-known affair with Gollust

One CNN staffer called the relationship between Jeff Zucker and Allison Gollust "the worst kept secret in the building." In fact, countless employees have opened up and revealed it was widely known, which is why many are now targeting CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter. It seems CNN staffers are furious Stelter knew about Zucker's affair but never reported on it, which is why they want him fired.

Stelter is now in the life of fire at the beleaguered network, which is facing a massive fallout from Chris Cuomo's firing. As we reported earlier, Cuomo knew about Zucker's affair and used that knowledge to allegedly threaten Zucker, but to little avail. After he was fired, it came out into the public, leading many staffers to slam Cuomo for "trying to burn the place down." That anger is now being directed towards Stelter as well after he went after Cuomo following Zucker's announcement he was leaving the network.

RELATED ARTICLES

Fired Chris Cuomo to sue CNN over massive paycheck as he mirrors Andrew's pension bid

Brian Stelter shows himself pantless on CNN to ‘humanize news’, gets mocked: ‘No time for pants, must bash Trump’

It's not just those inside CNN who are slamming Stelter, but others outside as well. The calls for him to be sacked are growing, which could put the network in an extremely tough spot. With Cuomo and Zucker now gone, CNN is facing a massive crisis, which is reflected in its stunning viewership decline. Zucker's replacements will have to make some tough calls if they are to keep the network afloat, and that could involve Stelter.

Stelter should 'start looking for another job'

As we previously reported, it seems the entire CNN staff knew about Zucker and Gollust's affair, even though Zucker never formally reported it. We know Cuomo knew, because of the reports he used that knowledge in his lawsuit. Many are saying Stelter also knew, given his close relationship with Zucker. As CNN's chief media correspondent, Stelter has reportedly been "sitting on his moral high horse doing Jeff's bidding and ripping Fox and every other media outlet that Jeff tells him to while his ratings crash and burn." 

In fact, Stelter was one of the few to publicly come forward and defend Zucker after his resignation. On air, Stelter accused Cuomo of "trying to burn the place down" and saying about Zucker's resignation, "regrettable how it happened." While many internally are furious over Zucker's decision, it appears they are equally angry at Stelter for not doing his job. "He is allegedly our top media reporter - yet he failed to report on the scoop that everyone in the office knew. And if he wants to say he didn't know, he is truly terrible at his job," one insider told The Daily Mail.

Another person was more severe, saying, "Brian Stelter should be calling his agent to start looking for another job. He's been Jeff Zucker's water boy for years and no one believes he didn't know about all of this." Donald Trump Jr. also took a dig at Stelter, tweeting, "It's well known that @brianstelter & Zucker are close friends. It's also well known that Stelter used his platform at CNN to whitewash the Cuomo scandal for months. Are we really supposed to believe he didn't know about the affair? What did Stelter know & when did he know it???"

While Stelter is the latest, he's unlikely to be the last person targeted over the Zucker-Cuomo scandal. As Cuomo's lawsuit makes its way to court, we are likely to learn much more about CNN's culture, and just how much effort the company took to cover up Zucker's affair.