Speculation is growing over whether Jeff Zucker was forced out at CNN over his open-secret affair not because bosses had any real issue with it, but because the scandal of it and his ongoing war with Chris Cuomo could have threatened AT&T's $43billion deal with Discovery.  

Zucker and Allison Gollust have worked together for 20 years. They claim their relationship turned romantic during the pandemic but others say it far predates COVID. Zucker stepped down yesterday, admitting he was 'wrong' not to have told the company about the relationship. 

It has since emerged that Chris Cuomo, who was fired in December for inappropriately consulting his brother about sexual harassment claims, was the one who raised the affair to executives.   

But many of his loyal, on-air recruits and staffers in CNN's newsrooms say it does not add up that Zucker would suddenly be shown the door over something that was so well-known.  

The affair came to light as part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo's departure. Cuomo's attorneys are said to have told Jason Kilar, the CEO of WarnerMedia - which is CNN's parent company. He then informed AT&T boss John Stankey. 

AT&T bought WarnerMedia (formerly Time Warner) in 2018 for $84billion. It was a disastrous deal that the telecoms giant has been trying to unwind for years. It, finally, is now in the finalizing stage of a $43billion sale of WarnerMedia to Discovery.  

According to Puck media reporter Dylan Byers, Zucker and Gollust were due to take on senior roles within the new company, under the leadership of Discovery CEO David Zaslav. 

Byers writes that it is likely Stankey insisted on Zucker's departure after learning of it. By getting rid of Cuomo, too, AT&T does not have to pay Chris Cuomo the $18million he claims he is entitled to. 

'No matter what he thought of Zucker or Kilar, Stankey surely had no appetite for tolerating any scandal that might scuttle the impending WarnerMedia-Discovery deal.