One America News can now add fallout from a significant staff exodus to its woes.
OAN, which was dropped by satellite provider DIRECTV on April 4, continues to operate, but its “Weekly Briefing” segment is now manned by election-fraud conspiracy theorist Chanel Rion.
According to a Daily Beast report, she replaced Christina Bobb, who essentially cut out the middle man and went to work for former president Donald Trump’s political action committee. Bobb had also pushed election fraud disinformation. The network was unapologetically slavish toward Trump’s agenda and he returned that favor with frequent praise and appearances.
Host Dan Ball — who remains with the network — once likened Trump to Jesus Christ.
Also going to work for Trump directly is “The Real Story” host Natalie Harp, who reportedly left OAN “quietly” in mid-March. Producer and correspondent Jezzamine Wolk exited the San Diego-based station to work for Louisiana outlet KTAL-TV last month as well.
White House correspondent Camryn Kinsey and producer Justin Adam Brown were also said to have left OAN, according to the report. However, Kinsey’s LinkedIn profile still lists OAN as her employer. Brown’s LinkedIn page says he started at Newsmax in March. That right-wing outlet has provided refuge to several OAN deserters, including former White House reporter Emerald Robinson. Her contract at Newsmax was allowed to expire in January after she tweeted that COVID-19 vaccines contain a glow in the dark agent that seemingly allows Satan to track the vaccinated. Robinson resurfaced in late February at MyPillow salesman Mike Lindell’s LindellTV media outlet.
The Daily Beast reports that OAN is facing an “existential crisis” amid its severance from DIRECTV. The network has filed a lawsuit against DIRECTV and its parent company, AT&T, on account of the station being dropped. OAN is also playing defense in multi-billion dollar lawsuits filed by voting technologies companies Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems due to the cable channel’s reporting on alleged election fraud blamed on those organizations.
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