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“CNN This Morning Weekend” co-anchor Amara Walker announced Thursday she is leaving the news network after a decade, citing “change in our industry.”
“I’ve decided to seize on this moment of change in our industry and take a hiatus from TV news,” the Emmy Award-winning broadcaster told Deadline, without elaborating.
However, her departure comes just weeks after CNN chief domestic correspondent Jim Acosta left the network when his 10 a.m. slot on the network was yanked from its original air-time.
After officially announcing his exit last Tuesday, Acosta went on an anti-trump tirade, urging viewers not to “give in to the lies” in a final on-air rant.
Walker also anchors “CNN Newsroom” on CNN Max and “CNN International.”
“I’m a journalist at heart, but I have other professional passions as well. The timing couldn’t be better to embark on the next chapter,” she added in the announcement of her departure.
“I have other professional goals that I haven’t been able to pursue given my full-time commitment to a breaking news TV schedule,” the host continued.
“In my 10 years with CNN, I’ve had the privilege of working on nearly all of its platforms, as an anchor for CNN, CNN International, and CNN Max, and also as a correspondent. Winning an Emmy Award recently was the icing on the cake. I felt this is the right time to take this step.”
Walker, alongside her CNN colleagues, won an Emmy award last year for her network’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
She joined the network in 2013 as an anchor for “CNN International,” covering everything from the 2021 Atlanta spa massacre, demonstrations in Hong Kong, and the blaze that destroyed Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral.
A CNN spokesperson honored the accomplished anchor as a “wonderful and deeply respected colleague.”
“In Amara’s more than 10-year distinguished and award-winning career at CNN, she has helmed numerous breaking news stories from the anchor desk and reported from the field on major events across the U.S. She’s been a wonderful and deeply respected colleague at CNN. We know she will continue to find success in her new pursuits,” the spokesperson said.
A successor has not yet been announced to replace Walker on CNN’s weekend morning show, where she co-anchors with Victor Blackwell.
