The news that one more prominent man in the world of media has been forced to resign over a sex scandal barely warrants the raise of an eyebrow these days, but it is noteworthy if he resigns because there was sex with no scandal. This was the case for Jeff Zucker, now ex-president of CNN, who stepped down last week after it was revealed that he was romantically involved with a colleague, Allison Gollust.
While Zucker’s resignation has prompted speculation about political machinations behind the scenes, it’s hard to see what he actually did wrong. The relationship was consensual; both Zucker and Gollust are divorced and of a similar age (he’s 56, she’s 49). By Zucker’s own admission, his fault was the failure to disclose the relationship when it began, in line with company policy. Much as it pains me to agree with the HBO Real Time host Bill Maher, he had a point when he remarked: “This used to be called discretion.”
