CNN Head Jeff Zucker Makes Sexual Joke Towards Female Anchor

  |  
Jun 16, 2019

CNN’s top boss is accused of making an inappropriate sexual joke towards anchor Alisyn Camerota during the Mirror Awards ceremony at Syracuse University Thursday.

“Jeff Zucker on CNN morning anchor Alisyn Camerota, who MC’d the awards show: ‘I was gonna say that I love waking up WITH YOU every morning, but I want to say that I love waking up TO YOU every morning,'” Hollywood Reporter’s Jeremy Barr Tweeted during the event.

The comment came after CNN host Jake Tapper of “The Lead” described Zucker as “ballsier than I am.”

Camerota hosts morning show “New Day,” one of CNN’s several lowly-rated news programs. Barr noted that there were groans in the room when Zucker made his comments toward Camerota.

But Camerota, who in 2017 accused former Fox News boss Roger Ailes of sexual harassing her, downplayed Zucker’s comments.

“It’s the oldest joke in the book made to morning show anchors, both men and women,” she said in a statement provided by CNN. “I hear it a couple of times a week from people in the grocery store. That isn’t harassment, in my opinion, and I didn’t find it tone deaf, either.”

In March, Zucker became the boss of WarnerMedia News and Sports, which owns CNN. He was being honored Thursday with the Fred Dressler Leadership Award.

“The Mirror Awards are the most important awards for recognizing media industry reporting and the important role the media play in our democracy and society,” according to the organization’s site.

Former CBS titan Dan Rather, known for falsely accusing president George W. Bush with going AWOL during his time in the Texas Air National Guard, won the Dressler Leadership Award in 2017.

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