CNN+ anchor Chris Wallace broke his silence during a “Finding Common Ground” interview late Sunday after the streaming service announced it will cease operations by April 30
Wallace hosted the program “Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace?” on CNN+ after its launch March 29. The host left his previous employer, Fox News, in December to host the show on the new platform.
“I am going to be fine,” Wallace said at the Common Ground Committee event. “I’m in good shape, whether it’s at CNN or someplace else. Frankly, what I’m mostly concerned about right now – and very – is my team and hundreds of other people because, you know, there were 300 people, I think, that had jobs at CNN+, some of them had left CNN to go to streaming, some of them had left other places, moved across the country.”
“And so I think you’re seeing a lot of the anchors at CNN+ doing everything they can to protect the people that were working on their team and to make sure they either get a safe landing at CNN or someplace else.”
The newly merged company, Warner Bros. Discovery, reportedly laid off 300 junior CNN+ staffers as they cut investments and projections from the platform. CNN executives spent $300 million on the service, losing $9,375,000 a day, Axios reported. (RELATED: Trump Reacts To The Collapse Of CNN+)
CNN’s upcoming president Chris Licht said in a statement Thursday that employees will continue to receive payments and benefits for the next 90 days, then be handed a six-month severance.
CNN+ staffers have reportedly expressed their anger and “utter shock” at the announcement that the company will end the streaming service’s operations.
“This is f*cking nuts,” a staffer told the New York Post.
“Many people left their stable jobs at CNN to go to CNN+ and then they pull it right after launch? Everyone is aghast and furious,” a source said, while another reportedly said, “This literally rivals the epic disaster of Quibi.”
“The big people will likely be saved, but what about everybody else, the people who do the real work?” the insider told the NY Post.CNN’s chief digital officer and the streaming platform’s officer, Andrew Morse, announced his departure from the network ahead of the platform’s end.
