Former CNN Boss Zucker Had 'Secret Romance' With Colleague for Over Ten Years - Media

The affair between Zucker and Gollust was likely revealed within CNN during the sacking of anchor Chris Cuomo, TV insiders reportedly suggest.

As Jeff Zucker stepped down as CNN Worldwide president following a revelation that he was having an affair with a colleague, it turns out that their relationship may have lasted for years in secret, New York Post reports.

According to the newspaper, multiple sources claim that Zucker and CNN Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Allison Gollust have been involved in a “secret romance” for over a decade, with the beginning of that affair dating back to the time when both of them were still working at NBC.

“It was well known that they were sleeping together dating back to their time at NBC,” an NBC insider reportedly said. “Second to the revelation that the Pope is Catholic, this affair is the least-shocking revelation in the world.”

They also mentioned that everyone in the TV industry is “appalled” by a claim Gollust made that the relationship in question “changed during COVID.”

“And the fact that they are continuing to lie about it is offensive to everybody. You lie when you are trying to cover up an affair, not admitting to it, you moron,” the source remarked.

The newspaper also points out that, as the relationship between Zucker and Gollust progressed and the two “took vacations together, went apartment hunting and going into each other’s hotel rooms for alleged 'meetings',” Allison kept lying about the affair, accusing reporters of being “sexist” over suggestions that she was sleeping with Jeff, her boss.

“The contention that Zucker’s romantic relationship with Allison Gollust ‘evolved’ during the COVID pandemic is absurd. They carried on the affair for years while the two occupied separate apartments at 32 E. 64th St,” a separate source added.

The relationship between Zucker and Gollust was thrust into the media spotlight in January when Radar Online published a story about the affair.

Gollust, however, continued to deny that they were having an affair, and even blamed fired CNN anchor Chris Cuomo for allegedly planting the story, as the newspaper put it – a claim that Cuomo's lawyer reportedly denied.

Some TV insiders, however, reportedly suggested that the Zucker-Gollust affair did come to light within CNN during the sacking of Cuomo.

“Cuomo is suing CNN for a settlement, and his lawyers may have argued that Zucker and Gollust’s relationship is improper and they should not have been able to decide on the fate of his career,” one source said as quoted by the Post. “Once CNN’s lawyers were told of this, Zucker’s fate was sealed.”