CNN Staffers Shocked as Sex Scandal Hits Network, Leads to Top Producer's Departure: Report
A top CNN producer was terminated last week after it was discovered he was dating a subordinate, according to a new report.
The firing comes one year after former network CEO Jeff Zucker, who steered the network to the far left during his nine-year tenure, resigned after his relationship with a colleague became public.
Page Six reported it had spoken to sources at CNN who reported Federico Quadrani, the executive producer for “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” had been dating a lower-level employee.
According to the outlet, Jake Tapper and others had suspected Quadrani was “hooking up” with the person. The employee in question was described by Page Six as a “senior producer.”
Rumors of the alleged affair shocked staffers and spread throughout the network. A source told Page Six there were fears the news was “going to get out.”
“There were some complaints. No one had proof, and these things are hard to prove. Jake was aware of the investigation,” a second network source said.
As CNN’s human resources department was about to close the book on the investigation, Tapper was reportedly shown something that left no doubt of the affair last Wednesday.
Page Six’s second source told the outlet, “Jake was made aware of it and acted quickly. Someone discovered something accidentally, and brought it to Tapper.”
The host was “presented with something that he couldn’t ignore,” which led to Quadrant’s termination on Friday.
CNN has not commented on Quadrani’s reported ouster, terming it a “personnel matter.”
Quadrani had been with CNN and had acted as Tapper’s right-hand man since 2013, according to the report. He previously worked for MSNBC, NBC News and ABC News.
Big congrats to all… and to Jake and the Lead team! https://t.co/2AK3yQTKVz
— Federico S. Quadrani (@FQuadrani) July 28, 2022
Zucker resigned in January of 2022 after his relationship with network executive Allison Gollust became public. The pair had worked together for two decades, dating back to their time together at NBC News in the late 1990s.
CNN has been rudderless and struggling with ratings since current network CEO Chris Licht took over for Zucker.
Licht has shuffled the network’s stars around to different time slots in an attempted reboot. Thus far, nothing has worked.
Over the course of the last 14 months, Zucker has left and Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo have been pulled from prime time.
The latter was fired after he was accused of sexual misconduct and amid an investigation into his role in helping his brother, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, navigate his own sexual harassment scandal.
Lemon currently co-hosts “CNN This Morning,” which is the network’s lowest-rated morning show in a decade.
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