CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker said Thursday he would be "open" to speaking with former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, who abruptly left the network earlier this month, Variety reports.
Zucker addressed Fox News and Smith's departure in an onstage interview with CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter while at CNN's Citizen conference Thursday.
"I've said before, it's akin to state run TV," Zucker said of Fox News. "I think it has morphed into conspiracy TV. It's not a place where someone like Shep Smith could work."
He added, "I don't think it's a journalism organization," saying he could not see a difference between the channel's news programing and its opinion programing.
"I think Shep's a great journalist," Zucker said. "I would be open to talking to him."
The CNN chief also addressed President Donald Trump's recent tweet spreading a "rumor" Zucker would be announcing his resignation soon.
"I do have an announcement to make today: I'm not resigning," Zucker said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "I have no intention of resigning. I think there was probably too much 'executive time' that day. He clearly has been agitated by CNN, and there was probably something done that day, and he was trying to take a shot at CNN, and he uses me as a proxy for that."
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