Brian Stelter: Celebs Rumors

Fired CNN anchor Brian Stelter says now-fellow fired CNN anchor Don Lemon and fired Fox anchor Tucker Carlson have kicked off a texting relationship because, well, they were fired within minutes of each other this week.Lemon and Tucker are “far from” a friendship, but their respective sackings had so many similarities, that it got them talking, Stelter wrote Friday for Vanity Fair. Carlson’s exit was announced late Monday morning, and not even an hour later, Lemon announced his own ouster on Twitter.Beyond just timing, Stelter writes that “the similarities between the two situations are stacking up.

Richard Leibner, a pioneering talent agent who represented such notable broadcast news journalists as Dan Rather, Diane Sawyer, Mike Wallace, Andy Rooney, Norah O’Donnell, Ed Bradley, Morley Safer and Fareed Zakaria, died today at his home in New York City. He was 85.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Richard Leibner, a celebrated talent agent who represented some of the best-known anchors in TV news, first at a firm he helped build and then for UTA, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 85 years old. In his time, Leibner served as an agent and adviser to Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Morley Safer, Bob Simon, Steve Kroft, Bill Whitaker, Diane Sawyer, Chuck Scarborough, Paula Zahn, Brian Stelter and Fareed Zakaria, among others.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After spending months keeping CNN from expanding into streaming, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery appears to have changed its mind. Warner Bros. Discovery is exploring ways to get more CNN programing on to its Max streaming service, according to a person familiar with the matter, looking at the news outlet’s broader portfolio to see what content might work. Executives will have to navigate agreements with CNN’s traditional distributors that often require cable and satellite companies get first access to CNN’s live broadcasts. Yet CNN’s rivals have grappled with similar obstacles and found ways to repurpose the news and opinion shows they run. The Fox Nation streaming outlet runs Fox News Channel’s opinion programs a day later. Fox News in 2020 unveiled a new international service that puts its programs in countries such as Mexico and Spain. MSBNC in March of last year unveiled a plan to offer episodes of “Morning Joe,” “Deadline: White House,” “The Beat with Ari Melber,” “The ReidOut,” “All In with Chris Hayes” and MSNBC’s opinion programs on the Peacock streaming hub on-demand the day after they air on cable.

the ousting of his handpicked CNN CEO Chris Licht in an internal memo to employees on Wednesday.“I have known Chris for many years and have enormous respect for him, personally and professionally. This job was never going to be easy, especially at a time of great disruption and transformation, and Chris poured his heart and soul into it,” Zaslav wrote.

Twitter thread by the network’s former chief media correspondent Brian Stelter. According to the profile, Licht told former president Donald Trump to “have fun” during his town hall on the network in May and knew that the crowd’s makeup skewed more towards MAGA enthusiasts than the “GOP-leaning independents” CNN originally claimed would occupy these seats.

Tucker Carlson is bringing a new version of his defunct TV show to Twitter, after being unexpectedly fired from Fox News last month.Carlson, 53, took to Twitter on Tuesday to share the news in a lengthy video, in which he claims that mainstream media outlets are all «thinly disguised propaganda outlets.»«Starting soon, we'll be bringing a new version of the show we've been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter. We'll be bringing some other things too, which we'll tell you about,» Carlson announced in the clip.

Don Lemon are both out of a job. Following Monday's high-profile cable news firings, former CNN anchor Brian Stelter tells ET's Kevin Frazier why he believes the networks parted ways with their top talent and what could be next for the men.News first broke that Carlson was out at Fox News, a decision that Stelter believes «is related to the Dominion lawsuit.» According to , Fox recently agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the defamation case Dominion brought against them for claiming on-air that they helped rig the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump.Stelter believes that Fox didn't fire Carlson as a result of the settlement, but rather because of messages that came to light amid the case.«Some of the emails and text messages from Tucker Carlson that came out before the trial were really embarrassing, but… there were a lot of messages still being redacted for public view and I believe there's material in those private messages that was incredibly ugly,» he explains.

parting ways, and the reactions range in creativity on Twitter.“This is an earth-shaking moment in cable news,” Brian Stelter wrote.Jon Stewart simply tweeted the eyes emoji staring off suggestively. Another user tweeted a photo of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen doing the three finger salute from “The Hunger Games” which serves as a send-off, especially when Rue (Amandla Stenberg) dies.The announcement of Don Lemon’s exit from CNN has spawned even more tweets about the coincidental firings of two major news anchors.“MSNBC executive leadership scrambling to figure out who they should fire today to keep pace with rivals at Fox and CNN,” wrote Jake Whitaker.Another user posted a Simpson’s gif that fits the current situation at the news networks.One user called Carlson’s exit the “succession season finale stunner.”Another Twitter user touted the recent “Succession” storyline that had Kerry vying for an on-air role saying, “It’s her time.” Several people connected Carlson’s departure to this plotline of the hit HBO show.Cliff Schecter wrote a verse set to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” about Fox:Still another user called the announcement “The end of an era” because “Tucker was too much for them to bear. Too much truth about COVID, vaccines, Ukraine, January 6 was probably the last straw.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Brian Stelter is getting ready to write a new chapter in his ongoing analysis of Fox News Channel. The former anchor of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” is gearing up for “Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy,” a look at the Fox Corp. cable outlet’s trajectory following the 2020 election and through the much-scrutinized defamation trial brought against it by Dominion Voting Systems. That court proceeding is slated to open Monday. “Network of Lies” is billed as a sequel of sorts to Stelter’s 2020 book “Hoax,” which offered a deep look behind the mechanics of how Fox News Channel produces its news coverage and opinion programming. Stelter’s new book proposes to examine how Fox News proceeded after the election of President Joe Biden and how it oriented itself after President Donald Trump left office. The book, published by One Signal, an imprint of Simon & Schuster’s Atria division, is scheduled to debut in November of 2023.

canceling Brian Stelter’s Sunday morning show, “Reliable Sources,” and shifting Don Lemon from his primetime gig to co-host “CNN This Morning” alongside Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.

wrote Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, a grassroots movement dedicated to addressing gun violence in the U.S. “Someone who was awarded gun lobby ‘reporter of the year,’ who was a regular guest on the NRA’s extremists NRATV outlet, and friend of Dana and Chris Loesch…”This sentiment was echoed by many others, with one user saying the hire was like getting “paychecks for the price of innocent lives,” considering his approval rating from the NRA.

told Semafor. “When I read stories about what’s happening at CNN and about Chris and what he’s doing, I think it’s unfair. I think people should give him a chance.

tweeted that he had a scoop on the next “big name” to leave CNN, and identified the person as Acosta on Friday. After Mediaite reported Sunday that the rumors were “absolute bulls—,” the source close to CNN leadership confirmed the report.The rumors come two months after Brian Stelter’s abrupt exit from the network along with the cancellation of his Sunday morning show, “Reliable Sources.” At the time, TheWrap reported exclusively that Don Lemon and Acosta were expected to stay at the network despite the centrist direction guided by Licht.While many speculated that billionaire media mogul John Malone, who is a Warner Bros.

Jennier Aniston is hard at work filming the new season of Apple+ series The Morning Show but her recent sneak peek surprised fans with her unexpected transformation.MORE: David Schwimmer hilariously replicates Jennifer Aniston's latest shower photo"Almost halfway through filming season 3 of @themorningshow show, sneak peek," she captioned a new picture that showed her wearing a motorcycle helmet and aviator goggles.WATCH: Jennifer Aniston pays emotional tribute to her father as she makes surprise apprearanceThe picture was taken when she was in hair and makeup, with the actress in costume as her character Alex Levy wearing a black cashmere jumper and her white collar peeking over the neckline.Season three will see Mad Men star Jon Hamm join the ensemble cast after Steve Carell left in season two.MORE: Jennifer Aniston wows in gothic look in unbelievable throwback photoMORE: Jennifer Aniston shows off sunkissed glow in striking shower photoJon and Jennifer were seen on set filming earlier in October, with the actress caught on camera effortlessly hopping into a silver vintage Porsche Targa alongside Jon.The Morning Show has been a major hit for Apple TV Plus; based on Brian Stelter‘s 2013 book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, it follows Jennifer's host Alex Levy who begins working with Reese Witherspoon's Bradley, an outspoken younger journalist who replaces Alex's longtime co host Mitch (Steve Carell) who was fired following claims of sexual misconduct.A post shared by Jennifer Aniston (@jenniferaniston)Jen gave fans this sneak peekJen won the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series award at the 2020 SAG Awards for her work on the show, and she gave an emotional

he was fired from CNN and “Reliable Sources” was canceled.Though Stelter was for years in an open, ongoing public feud with Murdoch’s Fox News, his brief contribution to “Empire of Influence” was surprisingly even-handed – admiring, even?“Rupert Murdoch just made it easier to see ourselves, to see the conflicts that are inherent in America,” go Stelter’s first comments for the cameras.

revealed the network’s programming overhaul on Thursday that will see the left-leaning primetime host yanked from his plum solo slot and moved to a newly-created morning show that he will co-host with Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.“I was presented with an opportunity that I can’t pass up at this network.” Lemon insisted on his ratings-challenged 10 p.m. show “Don Lemon Tonight.” He continued: “And we have a new boss who is a morning show impresario, and he wants a morning show that will kick off the editorial direction of the network every single day, and I am honored that he would ask me to do it.”Licht has been tasked with lifting the ratings at the third-place CNN, which includes remaking the cable news network’s primetime lineup, as well as reinventing its flailing morning show, “New Day.” Part of that reinvention includes moving away from punditry and towards centrist, fact-based reporting.

Chris Licht announced Thursday.Lemon will join Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow to replace current “New Day” hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar.Lemon’s long-anticipated demotion comes after Licht was tasked by new corporate overlord Warner Bros. Discovery to shift CNN away from opinion-based shows to more centrist reporting of the news.

Chris Wallace’s talk show will premiere on HBO Max on Sept. 23 and two days later on CNN.

John Miller as CNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. Miller most recently served as the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.Prior to that, he worked as a correspondent for CBS News and ABC News, where he landed a rare interview with Osama bin Laden in 1998.

tweeted Sunday. “Ditto canning John Harwood.”Harwood, the network’s White House Correspondent, announced that it was his last day at CNN on Friday, hours after describing Donald Trump as a “dishonest demagogue” in his analysis of President Joe Biden’s national address Thursday evening, in which the President warned that “MAGA Republicans” are threatening to undermine US Democracy.

CNN White House correspondent John Harwood is leaving.

CNN White House correspondent John Harwood said that Friday will be his last day at the network.

today's my last day at CNNproud of the workthanks to my colleaguesi've been lucky to serve the best in American media – St. Petersburg Times, WSJ, NYT, the NBC family, CNNlook forward to figuring out what's nextCNN did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. In his tweet, Harwood simply wrote that he’s looking “forward to figuring out what’s next” when it came to his professional future.

The final episode of on Sunday drew an average of 769,000 total viewers and 105,000 in adults 25-54, according to Nielsen.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN sure likes to keep ’em guessing.After canceling media-affairs show “Reliable Sources,” which often tilted at the content of Fox News Channel, CNN plans to air a previously-announced documentary mini-series about that network’s owners.“The Murdochs: Empire of Influence,” a seven-part documentary series previously planned for the now-scuttled streaming site CNN+, will debut on CNN”s flagship cable outlet in the fall. The original series will debut with a two-episode premiere on Sunday, September 25.The series was produced with The New York Times and Left/Right and is based on the New York Times Magazine article “How Rupert Murdoch’s Empire of Influence Remade the World,” by journalists Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg. They serve as consulting producers on the series. The program aims to examine the rise of Rupert Murdoch, his global influence and the battle for succession among his children. In an announcement about the series in February, CNN said the series “charts the high-stakes deal making, political maneuvering and dynastic betrayals — and how the ambitions of one family birthed one of the largest media empires in history.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Maybe people are interested in watching a show about the media. The final broadcast of CNN’s long-running “Reliable Sources,” a show that examines the media industry and has aired on CNN for about three decades, was the most-watched program on the network’s Sunday schedule. CNN said last week it was canceling the program as it plans a revamp of parts of its Sunday schedule. According to Nielsen, the final broadcast, anchored by host Brian Stelter, generated an average of 769,000 viewers overall, as well as 105,000 viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, the demographic most coveted by advertisers in news programming. “Reliable Sources” has more viewers overall than the 8 p.m. hour of Sunday’s “Newsroom,” which lured an average of 521,000 viewers and 78,000 in the advertisers demo. A “CNN Special Report” at 9 p.m. won an average of 722,000 and 97,000 in the advertiser demo, while the series of W. Kamau Bell’s “United Shades of America” won an average of 694,000 viewers adn 120,000 in the ad demo.

calls the “new corporate oligarchy.”“Good morning and Happy Sunday to everyone who agrees that if CNN has consciously decided to push Republican positions, it’s time to #BoycottCNN,” one user tweeted. “I’m watching @MSNBC exclusively now.”Some left-leaning CNN fans have changed their tide on the news organization after speculation that John Malone, Warner Bros.

CNN’s chairman and CEO Chris Licht told anxious staffers Friday that more changes are coming to CNN, as he addressed the news of Brian Stelter’s exit following the cancellation of his Sunday show Reliable Sources.

ouster of Brian Stelter and the cancellation of “Reliable Sources.” Last week, CNN parted ways with longtime legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin as well.In the four months since being tapped by Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav to take over CNN, Licht has sought to make the cable news channel more straight-news reporting and dial down on opinionated hosts and anchors.

Brian Stelter is out as CNN’s chief media correspondent and host of “Reliable Sources,” which will be canceled upon his departure — an expected move, given the show’s low ratings and an expressed desire by the network’s new leadership to move away from opinion-based news programming.Stelter’s exit comes less than four months after Chris Licht took over as head of CNN, following reports that the CEO was not a fan of Stelter’s opinionated on-camera style. Licht informed Stelter of the decision on Wednesday, and this Sunday will be the final episode of “Reliable Sources.”“I’m grateful for my nine years with CNN, proud of what we accomplished on ‘Reliable Sources’ and so thankful for the viewers who tuned in every week for our examination of the media, truth and the stories that shape our world,” Stelter said in a statement obtained by TheWrap.

CNN is dropping its Sunday show Reliable Sources while its host, media correspondent Brian Stelter, is exiting the network.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAnd now some news about the news program that covers the news.“Reliable Sources,” the media-news program that has been on CNN since 1993, is the latest piece of content to go on the chopping block under the cost-cutting regime of Warner Bros. Discovery.

A terrible loss. Jennifer Aniston is paying tribute to a Morning Show camera assistant, Gunnar Mortensen, following his tragic death on Monday, July 4. He was 39. 

She said she told former former CNN President Jeff Zucker she was going to leave back in January.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA lot of changes are taking place at CNN after the merger of its parent company, WarnerMedia, with Discovery, but this wasn’t one many people were anticipating.Christi Paul, who has been a regular presence on CNN’s weekend morning programs for nearly nine years, is leaving the news outlet, she announced on air Sunday morning. Paul has been with CNN and its sibling HLN since 2003, and has co-anchored “New Day” on Saturday and Sunday mornings alongside Victor Blackwell and, more recently, Boris Sanchez. Her Sunday appearance on CNN will be her last.A rotating group of anchors is expected to fill in on “New Day” alongside Sanchez for the foreseeable future, according to a CNN spokesperson.