Tech journalist Kara Swisher says she plans to leave CNN as soon as possible once David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance completes its expected takeover of the network. Swisher announced the move Tuesday on her podcast “The Pivot.”
“‘F–k these guys,'” she said, “I don’t want to work for them.”
Swisher’s contract with CNN runs through December 31, and she said she has asked her agent to try to get her released from the deal early.
Speculation has swirled around the timing of her departure, with some anonymous sources suggesting it may be tied to personal history rather than business alone. Bari Weiss, whom Ellison installed atop CBS News after buying the network in 2025, is widely rumored to be a candidate to oversee editorial operations at CNN as well. Weiss is married to Nellie Bowles, Swisher’s former girlfriend, who worked on Swisher’s “Recode” podcast in the mid-2010s before the two split.
One unnamed source told Page Six, “Kara’s just jealous.”
Swisher pushed back hard on that framing after being contacted for comment, posting the outlet’s email exchange to Threads herself. “Here’s my comment,” she wrote. “As exciting as girl on girl action is for you to gin up, I have been saying for a long time now that I would depart CNN if the deal goes through, due to my lack of confidence in the owners as decent media stewards & not whatever minion they decide to install… Please try to keep up as hard as that is for you.”
Bowles, who co-founded the Free Press with Weiss, began dating Weiss in 2018 and the two married a couple of years later; they have two children. Swisher separated from her previous partner, Megan Smith, in 2014 and is now married to Amanda Katz, with whom she also has two children.
Whatever the underlying reason, Swisher has been clear and public about her stated objection: distrust of the incoming ownership’s commitment to editorial independence under the Paramount Skydance deal.
