Politics
NEW: CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Faces Growing Scandal
Staffers inside CNN are livid after political correspondent Kaitlan Collins flaunted her fabulous new wealth by purchasing a summer getaway dream home, right as the network considers slashing its employees and expenses down to the bare bones.
A luxurious beach house reportedly awaits Collins on Nantucket, the island oasis that serves the rich and famous visiting Massachusetts during the summer months. Former President Joe Biden and his family have a longstanding tradition of celebrating their Thanksgiving together there each year.
The 33-year-old reporter is rumored to have bought a “very expensive” Nantucket property in recent weeks, provoking a new round of grumbling about the “way overpaid” star who only arrived on the public’s radar just a few short years ago.
Anonymous staffers are speaking out about the unfair preferential treatment they say CEO Mark Thompson is overlooking while Collins delivers viral hits as she tries her best to cover President Donald Trump, and he tosses the “fake news” label back in her face.
“She just bought some bougie place and CNN people are grossed out that she paid so much,” one CNN insider told Page Six.
Consternation over Collins’s new pad comes after other sources told Fox News there are “tears on the horizon” as Warner Bros. CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels prepares to shutter parts of CNN’s news division and possibly lay off top stars like Anderson Cooper, the $18-million-a-year newscaster who is now reportedly eyeing his own exit.
“Inevitably, Gunnar will look at CNN and decide he can maintain relatively similar profits at a mere fraction of the cost,” wrote Dylan Byers, a former CNN reporter who now writes for Puck.
“This will have perceptible ramifications on the talent side. Why, for instance, would Gunnar pay Anderson Cooper $18 million a year when Kaitlan Collins draws the same ratings at roughly a fifth of the salary?”
Another source called Wiedenfels a “bean counter” who will start by looking at the lofty salaries of top talent who have grown accustomed to being rewarded for drawing big audiences even as viewership has dwindled in recent years.
“It’s not just the overpriced talent. It’s the overpriced producers. The overpriced executives. The superfluous reporters who barely are on the air,” one source told the Daily Mail.
“All will either be exited or forced to take massive pay cuts.”
Jeff Zucker, CNN’s longtime former president, had a habit of overpaying his stable of anchors to retain their loyalty, the insider goes on. That’s inflated the value of anchors like Cooper and Collins to roughly five times what they’re worth on the open market, they estimated.
In addition to Cooper’s exorbitant salary, Jake Tapper earns about $7 million annually. Wolf Blitzer, another unforgettable face for CNN, is a close second at $15 million, while Collins has only started her career with a respectable $3 million income as a primetime anchor.
The Mail reported that CNN experienced its second-lowest ratings in history last month, with the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic plummeting in both daytime and nighttime viewing.
Experts believe Wiedenfels is hoping to bring CNN’s spending spree to a halt while producers reevaluate the value of its remaining overseas bureaus and its no-expense-spared special events coverage.
The Warner Bros. executive could “start by making 70 percent cuts to all show teams for CNN US, bringing their staffing in line with that of their competition,” one person said.
“But it will be most devastating for the rank and file. With no union protections, there will be massive layoffs and those remaining will be asked to do the work of their departed colleagues,” they explained.
