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Reading the Zas Tea Leavys

One of David Zaslav's longtime confidants is exiting CNN and heading back to parent Warner Bros. Discovery—but the details of his future are conspicuously absent, sparking intrigue about what's coming.

Author

Oliver Darcy
May 28, 2025

Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

On Wednesday morning, as CNN staffers dialed into the network's daily 9am editorial call, they were met with news that raised more questions than it answered: David Leavy, the longtime David Zaslav confidant who had been serving as CNN’s chief operating officer, would be leaving the network at the end of June and returning to parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. The announcement, which we first reported, came via network boss Mark Thompson and was framed as a natural transition. But the absence of any defined role awaiting Leavy at WBD immediately sparked speculation among staffers and the broader industry.

Leavy arrived at CNN in the final, chaotic stretch of the Chris Licht era, dispatched from the parent company with a mandate to help stabilize the network. He played a central role in navigating CNN through its leadership vacuum and worked closely with Thompson during his early months at the helm. Since then, he had accumulated a sprawling portfolio, overseeing everything from operations and strategy to communications and data. His departure now, just as his contract was nearing its end, was not entirely unexpected—but the move back to WBD, with no formal position attached, struck many as odd.

There was no new title. No portfolio. No contract renewal announcement. And WBD declined to comment on what Leavy would actually be doing.

Inside CNN, the news…

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