*UPDATE* Acosta Announces On-Air He’s Leaving CNN
“signaled to associates in private conversations over the weekend that he intends to depart the network after its chief executive, Mark Thompson, booted him from the morning programming lineup”
*UPDATE via Mary Chastain* Jim Acosta announced on-air he’s leaving CNN. He had a lot to say, he had a lot of nothing to say (a classic line from Tool’s song “Eulogy”):
“And I just wanted to end today’s show by thanking all of the wonderful people who work behind the scenes at this network. You may have seen some reports about me and the show, and after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing an alternative time slot CNN offered me, I’ve decided to move on. I am grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I’ve spent here doing the news. People often ask me if the highlight of my career at CNN was at the White House covering Donald Trump. Actually, no. That moment came here when I covered former President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba in 2016 and had the chance to question the dictator there, Raul Castro, about the island’s political prisoners. As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson: It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I’ve always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account. I’ve always tried to do that here at CNN, and I plan on going doing all of that in the future. One final message: Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope. Even if you have to get out your phone. Record that message. I will not give in to the lies. I will not give in to the fear. Post it on your social media so people can hear from you too. I’ll have more to say about my plans in the coming days, but until then, I want to thank all of you for tuning in. It has been an honor to be welcomed into your home for all these years. That’s the news. Reporting from Washington. I’m Jim Acosta.”
#BREAKING: Jim Acosta makes it official, rage-quitting CNN after 18 years at the network, telling viewers to not "give into the lies" and "it is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant"….
“And I just wanted to end today's show by thanking all of the wonderful people who work… pic.twitter.com/7Zlwrrbwwl
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 28, 2025
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Last week, it was revealed that CNN was considering moving anchor Jim Acosta to the midnight timeslot. Acosta was unhappy about this and was considering leaving the network.
Acosta’s antics are well known. In 2018, he got into a tussle with a young woman who worked at the White House over his refusal to stop talking, a move that temporarily cost him his White House press pass.
Now he is apparently leaving CNN.
FOX News reports:
Jim Acosta leaving CNN after being pulled from network’s programming schedule: report
CNN anchor Jim Acosta is reportedly leaving the network after he was officially pulled from its programming schedule.
The Status newsletter reported Monday that Acosta was expected to leave CNN after it was announced last week that his 10 a.m. ET program was being replaced with “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown” in the network’s latest reshuffling.
The newsletter previously reported that Acosta was pitched by CNN CEO Mark Thompson to move him from his one-hour slot at 10 a.m. ET to a two-hour slot beginning at midnight, a far less distinguished place in the lineup.
One CNN insider told Fox News Digital they heard Acosta “struggled with the choice” and may be cutting his contract short as a result.
“It takes courage,” the CNN insider said.
Another CNN insider was dismayed by Acosta’s exit, saying “Many viewers like Jim… if there is anyone who could make the overnight go it’s him,” adding “It’s sad to see him go.”
Oliver Darcy, who also used to work at CNN, first reported this in his newsletter. It’s behind a paywall, but Mediaite has published some of the details:
Jim Acosta is expected to exit CNN.
The anchor, I’m told, signaled to associates in private conversations over the weekend that he intends to depart the network after its chief executive, Mark Thompson, booted him from the morning programming lineup — a move that conspicuously coincided with Donald Trump’s return to power.
CNN brass, as we first reported earlier this month, decided to strip Acosta of his 10am show, which he has anchored to great ratings success over the last 11 months, at times even seeing higher viewership than programs in the channel’s prime time bloc. Acosta was instead offered the less-than-desirable option of anchoring a show from midnight until 2am ET. CNN pitched the gig to Acosta as anchoring during prime time on the West Coast and said he could move to Los Angeles to host the program. But the reality is the program would have aired at a time in which cable news viewership is at its lowest levels.
Acosta will not be missed by many.
Jim Acosta last week went on yet another sanctimonious rant about how he’s a superhero and that the free press is so sacred.
One week later, he’s now leaving CNN after getting booted from the morning show.pic.twitter.com/Gk5Fe1d7Ky https://t.co/bMXqlP3CV5
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 28, 2025
No one seems to know what Acosta’s next move will be, but I’m betting he will learn that he needed CNN more than CNN needed him.
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Well, bye.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhQql-ZbZmg
Don’t go away mad, just go away
Well, Jim. This isn’t an airport or train station. You aren’t required to announce your arrival or departure.
Oh, you are still here? C’mon Acosta. You are free to go. Get outta here.
We thought you left!
Is Jennifer Rubin hiring?
With Acosta, it was always about him, not about the story. Maybe he can learn to code?
He probably cannot even SPELL “code”.
Coding requires logic. Logic is not generally a thing that lefties are good at so learning to code is probably out.
Who is Acosta?
Exactly!
Someone that accosts women and gets away with it.
I suppose there will be a spot for him in that Marxist catch-all we call MSDNC.
Then he will truly disappear.
Both CNN and MSNBC are undergoing major budget cuts, so I doubt MSNBC can afford him. He may try and go the independent route like Tucker or Megyn Kelly.
His career is basically dead. He reminds me of the atheist who dies and on his headstone they write: “All dressed up and nowhere to go.”
It’s not that bleak. I’m sure that there are plenty of “news” organizations in Cuba or Central America that could use a gringo with his journalistic integrity and credentials.
LOL.
That’s awesome. I can’t believe I never heard that one before.
The high cost of lying cost Acosta a prime spot from which to cry.
Poor guy.
Forget Acosta as no one will miss the narcissistic drama queen, I’m more stunned Oliver Darcy thinks people will pay to read what he has to say
So how many Cuban political prisoners did Jim Acosta get released not bowing down to Dictatorships?
“I’ve always believed it’s the job of the press to hold Republican power to account.”
Fixed it fer ya, Jim.
Always amusing to see the level of detachment from reality these leftist wokiestas have about their own importance. They are generic, entirely replaceable and utterly forgettable. IOW they are NPCs who somehow decided they are main characters.
Scott Jennings should be given his slot.
Cuban heritage, is that right?
Buena liberación, imbécil.
Don’t care. Didn’t watch, didn’t listen. He’s got nothing to say that is worth hearing.
Nobody cares and who really watches CNN?
Uh … what?
He stole that little riff from Kamala, I think.
“And when you lose 135-7, you haven’t been defeated. You have only lost, but you weren’t defeated. We got the power!”
“Barky loved bowing down..”
Michelle trained him well. He bowed down to her so many times she jokingly called him “camel knees”.
In the rare instance I was exposed to Mr. Acosta’s on-air presence, I was always struck by his elevated level of narcissism, hubris, and sense of self-importance. He reminds me of a Dan Rather mini-me, and is welcome to join Dan in the dustbin of substandard journalistic history.
As Ben Shapiro said ” ladies, find yourself a man that loves you like Jim Acosta loves him some Jim Acosta”
Good riddance to bad garbage
Yeah, “Don’t give into lies…” Uh, Jim, even if you land another slot, your dishonesty and lack of integrity will precede you. You have a LONG way to go to make that line true.
I am a Cuban refugee myself, not the son of one. As such, I have to say that I find Acosta’s attempt to play the refugee card disgusting and despicable.
If he wanted to learn he should have listened to his father. But instead he went there “to bow down to a tyrant” and he was publicly humiliated by that tyrant.
Yes, he did ask about political prisoners but that was nothing more than self serving theater. The tyrant told him “give me a name” and he was unable to. The tyrant said “give me a list of names and I will release them right now,” but Acosta was not able to.
Of course, the tyrant was not going to release them. The tyrant just called Acosta’s bluff for the whole world to see.
There are plenty of real journalists that would have produced the list right there and called the tyrant’s bluff. But not Jim Acosta. He is no journalist and certainly no refugee.
“The tyrant told him “give me a name” and he was unable to. The tyrant said “give me a list of names and I will release them right now,” but Acosta was not able to.”
Reminds me of Polievre’s apple-chomping smackdown of a Canadian journalist who had nothing better than “people have said.”
Where’s he going to go? Telemundo? YouTube? Spotify? No one is going to watch him anymore anyway…
Maybe he could buy a cowboy hat and a pair of tightie whities and be a naked cowboy.
His two most hallmark moments were with Raul Castro and a young female WH intern, and he accosta’d the wrong one.
If you quit a network that no one watches, does it matter at all?