CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin LEAVES the network after masturbating during Zoom call as broadcaster's new boss repairs its tarnished reputation: 'No one will shed a tear, especially the women of CNN'
By Harriet Alexander For Dailymail.com03:05 BST 13 Aug 2022 , updated 04:13 BST 13 Aug 2022
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin announced on Friday that he is leaving the network after 20 years, in a surprise tweet declaring he would not be returning after his vacation.
Toobin has insisted he made the decision to quit himself - but speculation is mounting that the was forced out by new boss Chris Licht.
The analyst was infamously caught masturbating on a Zoom call with colleagues at the New Yorker magazine, only to be invited back by CNN's disgraced ex-boss Jeff Zucker.
CNN suspended him for eight months before welcoming him back - to the anger of many at the network.
Toobin said that he had decided to leave, but some within the company saw it as part of a wider move by the new boss, Chris Licht, to clean up the network after scandals involving anchor Chris Cuomo and president of the company, Jeff Zucker.
The source added: 'He just needs to fix 9pm. We're all rooting for the talented and undervalued Dana Bash to be given that slot.
'You want a neutral journalist to appeal to both sides, he's got to put Dana in.'
The 9pm slot was previously held by Chris Cuomo, who saw his show Cuomo Prime Time cancelled in late November after the anchor was suspended and then fired for helping his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, while he was accused of sexual harassment.
