Veteran CNN host Poppy Harlow is leaving the struggling cable news network. It comes two months after CNN This Morning was canceled due to numerous broadcast problems that led to Don Lemon’s ouster last year.
CNN chief Mark Thompson informed staff of Harlow’s departure during a 9 a.m. CNN editorial meeting Friday, and Harlow confirmed her departure in an email to colleagues.
“When I walked in the door at CNN in 2008, I was 25 years old and had never appeared on live television before. Green is an understatement!” Harlow wrote in an email. First reported by Vanity Fair. “I grew up here as a journalist and as a person.”
Harlow, 41, thanked Thompson and Amy Entelis, CNN’s executive vice president of talent, original programming and creative development, saying they were “amazing and gave us the space to make this decision.” I wrote.
She plans to officially leave CNN next week.
Harlow has held a variety of reporting and anchoring jobs at CNN, most recently co-hosting CNN This Morning, the ill-fated morning show that launched in 2022 under ousted CEO Chris Licht. served as a person.
She teamed with Kaitlan Collins and Lemon, but Lemon hurled abuse at Collins off-camera and infamously declared on air that then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “not in her prime.” He was fired for a series of blunders, including
In the February incident, Lemon harshly criticized Haley, 51, for requiring mental competency tests for politicians over 75.
Lemmon, 56, began by saying, “The whole conversation about age makes me uncomfortable.” She said, “I think we’re on the wrong path. She says, people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley is not in her prime.”
While Harlow and Collins looked confused, Lemon said: [their] They’re in their 20s, 30s, and maybe even 40s. ”
Harlow immediately called out to the failed prime-time host, saying, “What are you talking about? Wait a minute… what is Prime for?”
Lemon immediately tried to save himself by claiming he was not stating his personal beliefs.
“That’s not the case in my opinion,” he said. “It’s like prime. If you look it up. If you Google when is a woman’s prime working age, it comes up in her 20s, 30s, 40s.”
He added: “What I’m saying is that you should be careful when Nikki Haley says that politicians are not yet in their prime and need to be in their prime. Because Google According to her, she’s not yet in her prime.
Harlow ended up storming off the set. Lemon was temporarily suspended from broadcasting and apologized after receiving backlash.
Lemon was fired last April, and Collins was moved to prime time shortly after, with Harlow co-hosting CNN’s morning show with White House correspondent Phil Mattingly.
The audience ratings for the morning program, which had never been good, could not be improved.
“CNN This Morning” averaged 322,000 total viewers in January, compared to 988,000 for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and 1.07 million for Fox’s “Fox & Friends.”
Thompson announced the shake-up in February, canceling his morning show and replacing him with anchor Casey Hunt, who now anchors an early morning newscast from Washington, D.C., from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. .
A few weeks later, Mr. Mattingly was appointed chief national correspondent, but Mr. Harlow’s future was uncertain.
Vanity Fair reported that Harlow was offered a new role at the same time as Mattingly, but ultimately turned it down.
Both Thompson and Entelis praised Harlow’s professionalism as he walked through the door.
“Poppy is a unique talent who combines formidable reporting and interviewing skills with a human touch that audiences always respond to,” Thompson said in a statement to VF. “She will be a great colleague at CNN and we know she will be very successful in her future endeavors.”
Enteris said: “Poppy leaves CNN after more than 16 memorable years, thousands of hours in the anchor chair and hundreds of field reports. She left her mark on numerous major articles such as Terrorism, but most notably, the world’s top business leaders, who trusted her because she was tough, fair, and well-prepared. An enlightening interview with Poppy. Poppy was an outstanding journalist who set the standard for reporting with compassion and humanity, and we will miss her.”
Mr Harlow’s full statement to colleagues is below:
When I joined CNN in 2008, I was 25 years old and had never appeared on live television before.
Green is an understatement! On his first day in the hall, he walked past those three red letters and thought how lucky he was to be here.
The next nearly two decades were a gift. I am inspired by you and have learned a lot from you. They will always be dear friends. I grew up here as a journalist and as a person. Thanks to the support and care of my CNN family, I was able to stumble, stumble, and try again. This place shaped me as a leader, taught me resilience, and taught me the value of perspective and how to make difficult decisions.
For these reasons, I have decided to take the plunge and leave CNN with a deep sense of gratitude.
Mark, Amy, and the CNN management team have been amazing and gave me the space to make this decision. I am very grateful to them.
CNN has given me the opportunity to travel around this country and around the world. It’s often the worst of times, but it’s also the best of humanity.
I was able to experience the beauty of this country. I’ve been there for people in their best moments and their toughest moments. They taught me about the human condition and what binds us. Whether it’s covering the impact of the financial crisis from Wall Street to Detroit, spending time with young women in prison in East Tennessee or Rikers Island, or grieving the loss of a child to Ohio’s opioid crisis, Even though I have been heartbroken many times by mass shootings, I have listened to the stories of parents who have been affected by mass shootings, and it has always moved me, motivated me, and made me appreciate this work so much. is the human side of the story.
Best of all, the teams of journalists behind each of these stories produce and bring it to life on every level. all Possible.
they are all.
They are, heart CNN’s.
Much has been written about what’s wrong with journalism and the challenges facing our industry. And it will be. But it’s also the right thing to do. At the heart of everything we do is the pursuit of truth, which is at the core of CNN. I will always be a huge fan of CNN and watch and support it every day.
For now, my plan is to walk the kids to school and pick them up (I hope they don’t get tired of me!). And to support the evolution of journalism in every way we can, while preserving humanity. that.
I’m excited about what’s to come. And she will continue to support CNN.
With gratitude and love.
poppy
