How many misbehaving men does this make at CNN?

And how is it that Jeffrey Toobin, the one among them who got caught punching the clown on a Zoom call, is also the only one left standing at the network?

Congrats to Jeff Zucker on somehow surviving years of dismal ratings, only to be felled by a zipper problem.

🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: Jeff Zucker just resigned from CNN due to a relationship with a colleague revealed as part of the investigation into Cuomo. pic.twitter.com/f09rm4HVQd

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 2, 2022

There’s karmic joy in seeing Zucker become a casualty of his own bizarre insistence on employing Chris Cuomo for so long. More on that in a moment.

So he was cheating on his wife with a married colleague, is that it? Actually … no. He’s divorced. And the “close colleague” whom he’s seeing is divorced too.

Mr. Zucker was referring to Allison Gollust, CNN’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer and one of the highest-ranking leaders of the network, who is closely involved in major business and communications decisions.

Ms. Gollust said in a statement on Wednesday that she was remaining in her role at CNN.

“Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years,” she wrote. “Recently, our relationship changed during Covid. I regret that we didn’t disclose it at the right time. I’m incredibly proud of my time at CNN and look forward to continuing the great work we do everyday.”

Not to stick up for Zucker, but is failing to disclose a consensual relationship with an unmarried co-worker really a firing offense? That seems more like a disciplinary matter than a “time for new leadership at the network” catastrophe.

Which makes me wonder: Did the board demand Zucker’s resignation here because they sincerely thought his failure to disclose was a grave dereliction of duty? Or did they demand it because it was a handy pretext to get rid of him after a year of being brutalized in the ratings?

As for who’ll succeed Zucker, it … won’t be Allison Gollust, will it?

About one year ago, @DylanByers reported CNN's Allison Gollust had "emerged as the leading internal candidate to take over the network" if Jeff Zucker stepped down. https://t.co/kKw0OKY1CA

— David Gura (@davidgura) February 2, 2022

You’ll never guess whom Gollust used to work for before joining CNN. At long last, we may have an explanation for why Chris Cuomo was *almost* untouchable at CNN. And why CNN’s directors may have considered Zucker’s relationship with Gollust more than a minor disciplinary matter. Maybe he was letting his romantic life affect key personnel decisions.

The gossip site Radar Online reported the rumors about Zucker and Gollust a month ago, emphasizing the Cuomo connection:

The CNN insider was adamant that Chris had initially escaped punishment for his role in advising his brother over his scandal because of Gollust’s influence on Zucker – and her own connections to the Cuomo machine…

“Allison runs the show; she is the number two to Jeff,” said the well-placed informant.

“One of the reasons why CNN failed to take swift disciplinary action against Chris Cuomo, is because of the relationship Allison has with Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“The fact that the upper management at CNN, starting with Jeff as the network’s president, never disciplined Chris in the first instance for his taking a hand in guiding his governor brother through the scandals begs the question: Did Zucker and Gollust have a colossal conflict of interest that sparked their inaction?”

If that’s true, Zucker cared more about keeping his girlfriend happy than he did about CNN’s integrity. No wonder the board wasn’t willing to cut him some slack.

Radar also points to something Katie Couric, who worked with Zucker at “The Today Show,” wrote in her book about his relationship with Gollust. According to Couric, even back then Zucker was looking to give Gollust a job at their show, asking Couric to meet with her about a PR position that wasn’t actually vacant at the time. Noteworthy: “I had to wonder why Jeff was angling so hard to bring Allison on board. She and her husband and kids had moved into the apartment right above Jeff and Caryn’s—everyone who heard about their cozy arrangement thought it was super strange. By that point, Caryn (Zucker’s ex-wife) had become a close friend and it made me really uncomfortable.”

Zucker’s statement today claims that his relationship with Gollust evolved “in recent years.” Uh, how recent is “recent”?

Righties of all stripes will high-five today in schadenfreude over seeing Zucker humiliated but Trump fans ought to think twice. Arguably there’s no one who did more to make Trump president than Jeff Zucker did, first by launching “The Apprentice” and then by lavishing coverage on Trump during the 2016 Republican primaries, giving him the equivalent of many millions of dollars in free advertising. Few people can say they did more to make American politics worse than Jeff Zucker can. Good riddance.

Update: How many people at CNN knew?

Zucker’s relationship with Gollust went on for years, and what he did to keep her near him (as he kept advancing her up the line) will be even more stunning to the CNN news room. https://t.co/STe578EX3W

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) February 2, 2022

Update: Ed adds: “When we said that it appeared Zucker was in bed with the Cuomos, we didn’t know how accurate that turned out to be.”

Update: I thought Trump might issue a statement thanking Zucker for making his political career possible, but no, he went a different route:

TRUMP STATEMENT: "Jeff Zucker world-class sleazebag" … "Jeff Zucker is gone—congratulations to all!" pic.twitter.com/9KzLBv3MqV

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 2, 2022