Variety: Alisyn Camerota, ‘New Day’ Star, to Exit CNN

Story from Variety:

Alisyn Camerota, whose steadying presence on air helped make her a prominent face of CNN during the first Trump administration, is leaving the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet, she disclosed via social media on Sunday.

“I’ve had such l incredible opportunities here these days 10+ years, I’ve interviewed presidents and heroes and extraordinary people – the kind of peak career experiences that I had dreamed of since I was a teenager?” she said during her final minutes on the air Sunday. ” I’m always touched when a viewer comes up and tells me that I helped get them through these challenging times.” She indicated that she had some future projects that would become known soon.

Camerota joined CNN in 2014 after a long stint at Fox News Channel. She served more than six years as a co-anchor on “New Day,” a flagship morning program that a previous management team led by former CNN chief Jeff Zucker had hoped would be more competitive not only with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” but mainstay morning-news programs on broadcast TV, such as NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Her exit comes as CNN and corporate parent Warner Bros. Discovery are said to be contemplating more job cuts as the news outlet grapples with assigning more resources to digital content under current CEO Mark Thompson.

“Alisyn is a rare talent with the ability to interview world leaders and everyday heroes with both strength and empathy,” Thompson said in a statement Sunday. “She’s been a wonderful colleague at CNN for more than a decade, and we will be cheering her on in her new pursuits where she will surely find much success.”

Camerota worked alongside Chris Cuomo, who developed a more aggressive and avuncular presence than morning TV had utilized in the past, but which captured attention as CNN covered Trump. Camerota became known for her ability not only to hold tough interviews with newsmakers, but to put an on screen spotlight in sympathy when situations required it.

“I think people are tuning in to us to see people held to account. People do like it when we hold their feet to the fire,” Camerota told Variety of her time on “New Day” in 2019. “Sometimes, we have to interrupt people if they are blathering on with their talking points, but even then, our viewers expect us to get in there and stop the nonsense. I don’t wrestle with it”

She has written two books during her time at CNN. Her debut novel, “Amanda Wakes Up,” was set at a large TV-news operation, and her 2024 memoir, “Combat Love,” told the harrowing story of an unstable upbringing.

She has not been seen on screen frequently in recent months. Her husband, Tim Lewis, died in July after a battle with pancreatic cancer, and Camerota revealed in September that she had taken some time to care for him in his final months.

But CNN has also seemed not do know what to do with her since she left “New Day,” which she left in 2021. Since that time, Camerota has co-anchored hours in the afternoon, anchored shows in primetime as CNN tried to introduce new programming to its schedule and worked on special reports for the weekend series “The Whole Story.”