Kara Swisher says she refuses to work for Paramount if it takes over CNN

Journalist Kara Swisher on Monday said she will leave CNN if Paramount buys Warner Bros. Discovery and takes over the network.

“I don’t think they’ll be good owners, I don’t,” she told reporter and Syracuse University professor Margaret Talev at an awards ceremony. “I think they’ve already shown several times, including editorial choices … that they have no interest in journalism. And I refuse to work for an organization that doesn’t respect journalists.”

Swisher works as a contributor at CNN and has a new show premiering at the network in April called “Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever.” She told Talev that despite the new show, she does not see a path where she could stay with the show if Paramount takes over Warner Bros. Discovery.

Swisher slammed the Ellison family, calling Oracle CEO and President Trump ally Larry Ellison “a terrible person.” His son, David Ellison, is Paramount Skydance’s CEO.

The merger resulting in Paramount Skydance last July has led to a shake-up at CBS News, with conservative writer Bari Weiss becoming the outlet’s editor in chief.

Swisher said she’s “not working for you hacks. I’m just not doing it and it’s not worth it to me.”

CNN employees have expressed concern over Paramount’s expected takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. David Ellison has said the network’s editorial strategy will serve a more politically “diverse” audience; similar remarks were made previously about CBS News.

Remarks from Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said earlier this month that the “sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” have added to questions over the cable network’s future.

At CBS News, the change in ownership and editorial leadership caused some of its reporters, including “60 Minutes” correspondent Anderson Cooper, to choose to no longer work for the company while others questioned its editorial independence. Many Democrats and media critics have accused CBS News of taking a rightward shift.

Weiss’s decision in December to hold a “60 Minutes” segment highlighting conditions at a notorious Salvadoran prison was accused of being political. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi said that the story was “cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices.” Weiss said the segment lacked “sufficient context” and was “missing critical voices.”

The outlet also carried out layoffs in October and just announced a second round of layoffs in May, as well as axing CBS News Radio.