Exclusive: Variety Stands By Controversial CNN Report Amid Calls For a Retraction

Variety is standing by the author of a controversial report regarding CNN, which dropped like a bomb on the media industry this week thanks to a dizzying array of claims — from former CNN president Jeff Zucker seeking out investors including a Russian oligarch to purchase the network to media reporters being in the pocket of Zucker in a fight to discredit Chris Licht as he took over.

The piece by Variety reporter Tatiana Siegel — “Inside the Battle for CNN: Jeff Zucker, David Zaslav, Chris Licht, and 18 Months of Crazy Backstabbing” — prompted criticism from some of its main subjects and even demands for a retraction.

Over the last few days, the piece has been under review by Variety’s editorial leadership.

An editor at Variety who did not want to go on the record to discuss internal matters told Mediaite: “Editor in chiefs Cynthia Littleton and Ramin Setoodeh are standing strongly with Tatiana Siegel and her reporting. At the same time they have been carefully addressing the questions about the story with the sources involved and everyone mentioned in the story had significant time to respond before our story was published.”

Much of the criticism of the story has centered on Siegel, a reporter who has worked for Rolling Stone and the Hollywood Reporter.

Atlantic writer Tim Alberta, whose bombshell story on Licht preceded his ouster from CNN, shot back at her characterizations of his reporting in the piece, writing on Twitter in a lengthy thread rebutting the piece: “If Variety had real editorial standards this piece never, ever would have published. A retraction is probably in order, but I doubt they have the stomach for it.”

Dylan Byers, a media reporter at Puck News, was mentioned in the Variety’s article as a “former Zucker disciple at CNN who, by his own admission, wrote about Licht incessantly and even took a victory lap after his exit.”

On Puck’s daily podcast, Byers also criticized the report, saying, “it’s not just inaccuracies…there are ways in which this whole thing seems to have been developed out of like the fictional cloth of some fever dream…every paragraph seems to have things that are just sort of wrong.”

Zucker, whose alleged attempts to cobble together investors for a purchase of CNN from WarnerBros. Discovery is a central focus of the piece, sought a retraction from Variety this week, according to CNN’s media reporter Oliver Darcy.

On Friday, an editor’s note was added to the story, noting the addition of statements from Atlantic writer Tim Alberta and Puck co-founder Jon Kelly: “This story was updated on July 28 to reflect new statements from Kelly and Alberta.”

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com