Paula Reid won’t be joining CNN when its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is acquired by Paramount.
Reid, 43, who has been with CNN since 2021, first as the news network’s senior legal affairs correspondent, and then in her current role as chief legal affairs correspondent, is choosing to decline a contract renewal option and exit the network.
Status was the first to report Reid’s pending exit, which apparently came after extended conversations with network executives. Her deal expires later this summer and she informed management in late June that she will not follow the outlet to Paramount once her contract expires.
Prior to joining CNN, Reid worked at CBS News, initially as an intern before working her way up. After years as a reporter, she moved into a high-profile role as the network’s White House Correspondent. While employed by CBS, Reid spearheaded the network’s coverage of the Robert Mueller Special Counsel investigation. She’s lived in both New York City and Washington D.C. to accommodate these roles and regularly appeared on CBS News and Face the Nation prior to joining CNN and becoming a regular on nearly all the network’s programing.
Reid has interviewed both former President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump.
Where Reid lands next is currently unknown, though some have speculated that she’ll join MS Now, or another news network that competed with CNN. MS Now has not commented on a possible deal with Reid, nor have any other networks.
That, of course, can change once Reid’s CNN contract officially expires.
Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to exceed $110 billion and would house CNN and CBS News under the same network umbrella. When the acquisition and merger will become official remains to be seen. Though the deal is expected to be finalized, several states have filed anti-trust lawsuits to prevent the acquisition.
If and when the acquisition comes to fruition, Reid won’t be a part of it.