CNN anchor Poppy Harlow announced in a memo to colleagues on Friday morning that she is departing the network after 16 years.
Harlow will exit CNN next month, according to the network. Vanity Fair first reported on her departure, noting that the veteran anchor was offered a new role after the cancellation of CNN This Morning but opted to leave instead.
“Poppy is a unique talent who combines formidable reporting and interviewing prowess with a human touch that audiences have always responded to,” CNN CEO Mark Thomspon said in a statement. “She’s been a wonderful colleague at CNN, and we know she will have much success in her future endeavors.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Amy Entelis, the network’s Executive Vice President for Talent and Content Development, added: “Poppy leaves CNN after more than 16 memorable years, thousands of hours in the anchor chair and hundreds of reports from the field. She made a mark on numerous major stories including financial crises, the Paris terror attacks and the Boston bombing, but most notably enlightening interviews with the world’s top business leaders, who trusted her because she was tough, fair, and well-prepared. Poppy is a brilliant journalist who sets the standard for reporting with compassion and humanity, and we will miss her.”
Harlow praised Thompson and Entelis in her note to colleagues, saying the “CNN management team have been wonderful and have given me the space to make this decision” and announcing that she was leaving “CNN with a full heart and deep gratitude.”
“There’s been plenty written about what’s wrong with journalism, and the challenges our industry faces. And it does. But there is also so much right with it. At the heart of everything we do is the pursuit of truth – it is the core of CNN. I remain CNN’s biggest fan and I’ll be watching and cheering you on every day,” she added. “For now, my plan is to walk our children to school and pick them up (hopefully they won’t get sick of me!), and to support the evolution of journalism in every way I can, while preserving the human(ity) in it. I’m excited for what is ahead—and I will be rooting for CNN always.”
After spending most of her years at CNN anchoring daytime programming on the weekdays, Harlow was tapped alongside former primetime star Don Lemon and Kaitlan Collins in late 2022 to co-anchor CNN This Morning, the network’s replacement for New Day. The brainchild of since-deposed CNN chief Chris Licht, the show was an effort to reimagine CNN’s morning programming and compete with other New York-based AM shows.
However, tensions soon brewed between the trio, specifically over Lemon’s misogynistic actions and comments, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Eventually, Lemon would not just be booted from the show but from the network altogether.
Collins was eventually shifted to her own primetime show while veteran correspondent Phil Mattingly was brought as Harlow’s on-air partner for the morning program. In the end, though, ratings continued to struggle, and with Licht gone, the new CNN management decided to end the experiment in February and revamp the entire morning programming block.
