Brooke Baldwin was one of the most familiar (former) faces on CNN for over a decade. She first joined the network in 2008, going on to land a position on “CNN Newsroom.” Baldwin was initially based in CNN’s Atlanta headquarters for her first six years at the network, but eventually moved to CNN’s New York studio in 2014. She would stay there until her departure from the network in April 2021.
Throughout her decade-plus at CNN, Baldwin was a key figure in the network’s daily news coverage, which is why her shocking exit in 2021 left viewers speculating on what happened behind the scenes. Some wondered if it had something to do with her desire to branch out into other ventures, like publishing. Baldwin released her first book, “Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power,” less than two weeks before her last day at CNN, which only added fuel to this fire.
However, the truth about what happened to Baldwin and the meaning behind her departure from CNN is much, much deeper than that. (Hint: It’s a lot less scandalous than what brought down other anchors.) Without CNN holding her back, the anchor has been able to spread her wings and spill the tea.
Brooke Baldwin was pushed out of CNN
On-air, Brooke Baldwin was the consummate professional. But, as she recently revealed in an essay for Vanity Fair, behind the scenes was anything but. In the piece, published just after the three-year anniversary of her leaving CNN, Baldwin discussed feeling silenced and manipulated by her former producer, acknowledging that her failure to speak up for herself contributed to her departure. “The word gaslighting has become so cliché, but that’s what it felt like,” she confessed. Things only got worse when she took the issue to Jeff Zucker, then-president of CNN.
Baldwin’s essay recounted one tense conversation where Zucker defended the producer over her: “Jeff turned to me and threatened, ‘I could give your show to someone in Washington tomorrow’ … He told me that I needed my executive producer and that he would not remove him.” That was late 2019. By early 2021, Baldwin was told she was finished at CNN effective April of that year. (Turns out, she didn’t quit, like we all assumed.)
Since leaving CNN, Baldwin has explored new ventures, including hosting a reality TV show on Netflix titled “The Trust: A Game of Greed,” which began airing in early 2024. While there’s no word on a renewal for the show, there’s no doubt Baldwin will continue using her newfound freedom for good: attempting to dismantle the toxicity of the modern workplace, one news network at a time.
