Who is Allison Gollust? Jeff Zucker exit at CNN raises questions about Andrew, Chris Cuomo

CNN boss Jeff Zucker announced his resignation Wednesday, sparking a flurry of questions centered on a colleague he had an undisclosed relationship with. So who is Allison Gollust?

Zucker shocked staff when he abruptly resigned as CNN Worldwide president and Chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports after being asked about a “consensual relationship” as part of an investigation into former CNN host Chris Cuomo. Zucker said Wednesday that he failed to previously disclose the consensual relationship with his colleague, later identified as Gollust, and admitted he was “wrong.”

Gollust, a former publicist who once served as former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s communications director, will keep her job at CNN, where she works as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. She also worked with Zucker at NBC prior to joining the cable news network; both are divorced.

“Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years,” she said in a statement. “Recently, our relationship changed during Covid. I regret that we didn’t disclose it at the right time. I’m incredibly proud of my time at CNN and look forward to continuing the great work we do everyday.”

According to Vanity Fair, multiple sources at CNN are interpreting Zucker’s exit as retaliation by Chris Cuomo, who was fired in December after being accused of sexual harassment and criticized for breaching journalism ethics by helping his brother, the former governor, deal with his own allegations of misconduct. A representative for the former “Cuomo Prime Time” said the harassment claims against him were untrue, and Andrew Cuomo has also denied wrongdoing.

Chris Cuomo was also previously criticized for bending company rules to interview his brother, Andrew Cuomo, during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic to discuss New York’s response to the coronavirus, which eventually led to a controversial book deal. Sources told The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple that Gollust and Zucker pushed for the governor to appear on “Cuomo Prime Time,” with Gollust directly appealing to Andrew Cuomo himself.

Rumors of Gollust’s relationship with Zucker first appeared in Radar Online on January 4, less than a month after CNN fired Chris Cuomo. Katie Couric also described Gollust and Zucker as “joined at the hip” in her 2021 memoir “Going There,” saying Zucker pushed her to hire Gollust when she launched her syndicated daily talk show in 2012.

Politico reports Chris Cuomo’s lawyers “raised issues about the relationship between Zucker and Gollust. Cuomo’s legal team asserted that Zucker was hypocritical to suggest Cuomo had a personal conflict of interest when the relationship with Gollust represented a potential conflict as well.”

Zucker’s downfall effectively began with Andrew Cuomo, multiple sources told Vanity Fair. Cuomo resigned as governor in August after an investigation overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James concluded he sexually harassed 11 women in the workplace.

In the meantime, Chris Cuomo is reportedly seeking a financial settlement from CNN and the network’s reputation may take a hit, too. The Wrap reports CNN had already seen a 29% viewership drop in its target demographic during Zucker’s nine years at the helm, while rival Fox News thrived.

The Associated Press reports the timing of Zucker’s resignation could also affect the new CNN+ streaming service, expected to launch in March with big names like Fox News’ Chris Wallace and NPR’s Audie Cornish.

“This obviously makes it pretty clear that their future is more wide open,” Moody’s senior vice president Neil Begley told the AP. “It makes a cleaner slate for the new team to come in an decide what is the best way to optimize CNN and news overall.”

Zucker, who previously served as executive producer of the “Today” show and president and CEO of NBCUniversal, oversaw CNN, CNN International, HLN and CNN Digital during his time with CNN Worldwide. Jason Kilar, CEO of CNN parent WarnerMedia, said three senior executives at CNN will run the network on an interim basis.