CNN’s Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin announced his departure from the network on Friday after spending nearly 20 years at CNN.
Toobin announced his exit in a letter sent to his colleagues, according to Variety.
“I wanted to let you know that after twenty years I’ve decided to leave CNN after my vacation. It was great to spend my last day on air, like so many before, with my pals at Sit Room, AC360 and Don Lemon Tonight,” Toobin wrote.
“It’s been a privilege (and fun) being your colleague. The work of CNN is enormously important, and I know you’ll continue doing it with the same passion and intelligence as always,” he continued.
Toobin shared a similar message on his Twitter account, but he also promoted his upcoming book about the Oklahoma City bombing, which is expected to release next year.
Friends, I’ve decided that, after 20 years, I’m leaving @cnn after my vacation. Was great to spend my last day on air with pals Wolf, Anderson and Don. Love all my former colleagues. Watch for my next book, about the Oklahoma City bombing, coming in 2023 from @simonandschuster
— Jeffrey Toobin (@JeffreyToobin) August 12, 2022
Toobin, who joined CNN in 2002, was recently placed on an eight-month leave in fall 2020 after he was caught masturbating during a Zoom call with his colleagues at The New Yorker, where he had worked since 1993.
“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends, and co-workers,” Toobin said in a statement shortly after the scandal.
After Toobin returned to CNN in June 2021, he told CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota, “I hope to be a better person off camera as well as on camera.”
Many of the quote tweets on Toobin’s reply-limited announcement referred to his masturbation scandal.
“You’re more of a solo act anyway,” tweeted Ryan James Girdusky.
Congratulations! May you live happily ever after. https://t.co/7ToMIZ2mnR pic.twitter.com/kNFFJahFsT
— Anmarie (@AnmarieInMn) August 12, 2022
“He’s quitting to spend more time with himself,” Noam Blum wrote.
“I’ve got to hand it to him, a vacation is the perfect happy ending. I guess he finally thought it was time to beat it,” another user wrote.
“Did CNN tell you to Beat It?” one user jokingly asked.
Did CNN tell you to Beat It? https://t.co/0gr8Ur2ayV pic.twitter.com/1z49fiWF0B
— Craig Medeiros (@craigmedy) August 12, 2022
Toobin’s exit from CNN is the latest shakeup at the cable news network after Jeff Zucker, the network’s former president, abruptly resigned from his post in February after he was revealed to be in an intimate relationship with one of his colleagues.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
