HBO host Bill Maher has defended ousted CNN boss Jeff Zucker, saying he doesn't care about consensual workplace relationships and feels the scandal was overblown.
Zucker this week resigned under pressure for violating corporate policy by not disclosing the nature of his consensual romance with second-in-command Allison Gollust, his friend and colleague of over 20 years.
'In the old days this was called discretion -- I'm not going to tell everyone who I'm f***ing,' said Maher on Friday's episode of Real Time. 'Now, I didn't tell everybody who I'm f***ing, and I'm the bad guy?'
Although HBO is also owned by CNN parent company WarnerMedia, which AT&T is planning to spin out in a merger with Discovery, Maher insisted that he had 'no dog in this fight.'
'I don't want to be on CNN, he can't do anything for me, I can't do anything for him,' Maher said of Zucker.
HBO host Bill Maher has defended ousted CNN boss Jeff Zucker, saying he doesn't care about consensual workplace relationships and feels the scandal was overblown
Zucker (left) this week resigned for violating corporate policy by not disclosing the nature of his consensual romance with second-in-command Allison Gollust (right)
Maher noted that Zucker is '56 and not married' and 'was having a relationship with a 49-year-old, I think that's age-appropriate.'
'He had to resign over that? I don't understand this, why a 56-year-old and a 49-year-old can't have a consensual relationship,' he said.
Referring to Zucker's claim, disputed by some insiders, that the romantic relationship first began during pandemic restriction, Maher added: 'She's boning Jeff because of COVID. Great!'
Real Time panelist Katherine Mangu-Ward, the editor in chief of Reason Magazine also expressed her disinterest in the romantic lives of Zucker and Gollust, who are both divorced.
'I would be totally delighted to never know anything about the sex lives of CNN C-suite people. I would love to not know about that,' said Mangu-Ward.
Mangu-Ward said that she was disturbed by Zucker's potential involvement in the cozy relationship between CNN and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, but felt the workplace relationship element of the scandal was overblown.
'Every layer of the onion is just dumber and makes you cry more,' she said.
Zucker with his ex-wife Caryn in 2011 (left) and Gollust with her ex-husband Billy Hult (right) in 2008. The pair have known each other and worked together for 20 years, starting at ABC, and media sources say their affair was an 'open secret'
'Americans spend all of their time at work, they're going to f*** each other. It's perfectly normal,' added panelist Johann Hari, the British-Swiss author.
'This is completely different from sexual harassment. Actually to be honest, it sounds like quite a touching love story.'
Zucker was reportedly given no choice but to resign by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who characterized the change as his decision at an emotional meeting with CNN Washington staff members Wednesday night.
On Friday night, CNN host Don Lemon welled up in tears as he finally discussed Zucker's resignation, and lavished praise on his former boss for all he has done for him over the years.
The host of 'Don Lemon Tonight' started Friday's show with a 'personal message' following a 'very tough day' for him after Zucker was ousted from CNN on Wednesday for not disclosing to the network that he was involved with Gollust.
Don Lemon started his show with a 'personal message' after a 'very tough day' for him days following his former boss Jeff Zucker's resignation
Lemon - who was featured prominently in a photo of Zucker and his lover Allison Gollust at a Billy Joel concert that helped expose their relationship- offered high praise for the man he credited for his career
They claim their romance began during the pandemic, but sources tell DailyMail.com and other outlets that their secret relationship had started years earlier.
After two days of not reporting on the downfall of one of the most powerful men in media, a teary-eyed Lemon thanked Zucker for giving him a career in TV news.
What Lemon didn't broach was the photo of Zucker and his lover Gollust at a Billy Joel concert that helped expose their relationship - and in which he is featured prominently in the row behind the couple.
Instead, what viewers saw was a passionate on-air farewell and defense of the man who gave him a $4 million annual salary to host his own show.
'The truth is we are all heartbroken because we lost our leader here, we lost a man who was the backbone, the glue and the spirit of his company,' said Lemon.
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