Trump Allys Power Play Leaves CNN Stars Plotting Exit As Network Braces For Purge

According to Fox News, the anxiety spiked after Netflix abruptly withdrew its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, CNNs parent company, clearing the way for Paramounts latest offer, which the board deemed superior. That proposal would transfer CNN into the hands of Ellison, a Hollywood executive with a notably cordial relationship with President Donald Trump and a record of infuriating liberals by appointing Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News and steering that newsroom away from its progressive tilt.

"The mood is horrific," a CNN insider told Fox News Digital. "People are very upset." A second CNN insider described the prevailing sentiment as "a mix of despair, apprehension and curiosity."

"Look, I think this is a place that has gone through a lot. A lot of mergers in the past decade. A lot of fresh starts," the first insider said, alluding to the networks revolving corporate ownership and editorial resets. "I think there is an underlying fear of mixing two news divisions," they continued. "Who is gonna get canned?"

That fear is not unfounded in an industry where consolidation almost always means job cuts and strategic overhauls. Many at CNN are acutely aware that CBS News has endured both layoffs and a sharp editorial course correction since Ellison assumed control last year and installed Weiss to lead its news division.

Weiss, who was handpicked by Ellison, has bluntly told staffers they are "not producing a product that enough people want." She has also taken steps to tamp down the liberal slant that was prominent at CBS News before the Ellison takeover, a shift that has drawn howls from the left but reflects a growing recognition that overtly progressive programming is alienating large swaths of the audience.

Now, CNN may be in the same boat, and the mere possibility that Weiss will have anything to do with the struggling cable network has spooked staffers. Some of those same employees previously turned on former CEO Chris Licht when he attempted to rein in the hyper-partisan tone that defined the Jeff Zucker era, a period in which CNN effectively branded itself as a resistance outlet against Trump.

Shortly after word spread that Netflix had backed out, current CNN CEO Mark Thompson tried to steady the ship with a memo announcing an internal town hall "to discuss next steps and to answer your questions to the best of our ability." Thompson urged employees to resist panic and focus on their core responsibilities.

"Despite all the speculation youve read during this process, Id suggest that you dont jump to conclusions about the future until we know more. And secondly lets not forget our duty to our audience," Thompson wrote in the memo obtained by Fox News Digital. "Were still near the start of what is already an incredibly newsy year at home and abroad, one that will culminate with critical U.S. midterm elections and who knows what else," he continued. "Lets continue to focus on delivering the best possible journalism to the millions of people who rely on us all around the world."

While Thompson attempted to quell concerns, insiders say some on-air talent and senior staff are already weighing exit strategies, particularly those who can afford to walk away before any Ellison-led restructuring. One insider suggested that if the culture or editorial direction shifts toward a more balanced or less overtly liberal posture, some of CNNs most ideological personalities may choose to bolt rather than adapt.

A second insider said the two main concerns are "job loss" and "editorial indifference," noting the former "greatly outranks" the latter. Specifically, CNN staffers worry about a potential "bloodbath" if CBS News and CNN were to merge, with overlapping roles and redundant bureaus likely to be targeted.

The first CNN insider, hardened by years of corporate churn under owners such as Time Warner and AT&T, acknowledged that any Ellison-led transition would unfold slowly. "It wont close until year end. Maybe longer," they said. "And between now and then the world will change in major ways. So, when it closes, the lay of the land and their intentions may change I think its best to reserve judgement and be calm and let it all play out."

Meanwhile, the broader political context looms large over the drama. CNN has spent much of the last decade embracing anti-Trump programming, and the president has responded by publicly hammering the network as biased and dishonest, turning it into a symbol of what many conservatives see as the excesses of liberal media.

Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ellison told Trump officials that he'd make sweeping changes to CNN if he became its owner. For a network that has built its recent brand identity around opposition to Trump, the prospect of an owner who is friendly with the president and open to reforming its coverage is nothing short of seismic.

The first CNN insider is trying to keep an "open mind" but conceded that the reporting on Ellison and Trump discussing changes makes it easy to see why staffers are rattled. "Its existential for the brand to be owned by an individual who has personal allegiance to a political figure and is not even answering to public markets," they told Fox News Digital.

"But I mean what Im saying. Its not just me trying to take a deep breath. I truly believe we can only react to what is, not what might be," they continued. "And we have no idea what the world will look like when this closes."

For now, CNNs workforce is left to contemplate a future in which a more market-driven, less ideologically rigid approach could finally be imposed on a network that has long resisted calls to abandon its partisan posture and return to something closer to straight news.