CNN Parent WarnerMedia Used Chris Cuomo To Lobby Then-Gov. Andrew For Help During COVID

CNN’s corporate parent used Chris Cuomo’s connection to his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to lobby for policy measures that would benefit its business during COVID lockdowns, according to a report.
WarnerMedia, the AT&T subsidiary and entertainment conglomerate that owned CNN before it merged with Discovery last year in a blockbuster deal, tried to get the then-governor to open movie theaters that were shut down as a result of the pandemic, the news site Semafor reported Sunday.
Semafor obtained text messages sent by WarnerMedia executive Allison Gollust, the marketing officer whose relationship with CNN boss Jeff Zucker led to both of their resignations, to her onetime boss, Andrew Cuomo, in September 2020.
Gollust asked Andrew Cuomo to speak to Ann Sarnoff, who at the time headed studios at WarnerMedia. “She’s bummed you don’t open theaters in NY, but perhaps you can hear her out,” Gollust wrote, according to Semafor. Weeks after Andrew Cuomo and Sarnoff spoke, the then-governor allowed movie theaters outside New York City to gradually open.

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