Overview
- O’Donnell used his MSNBC show to charge that CNN has become “absurdly degraded” and pays conservative commentator Scott Jennings to lie in defense of President Trump.
- CNN CEO Mark Thompson previously praised Jennings as “good television,” likened him to D’Artagnan, and framed his appearances as a rigorous test of ideas.
- Jennings replied on X with a dismissive one-liner and then escalated on his radio show, calling O’Donnell a “lunatic” and claiming CNN’s NewsNight outperformed O’Donnell in the key 25–54 demo by 30% in October.
- A CNN source pushed back on O’Donnell’s “lost-in-America Englishman” jab at Thompson by noting the executive is an American citizen.
- Corporate context looms as Warner Bros. Discovery conducts a strategic review following unsolicited acquisition interest, with reporting of a meeting between Jennings and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss but no confirmed talent moves.