While Toobin announced that he “decided” to leave CNN, many feel he wasn’t exactly given a choice considering new CNN CEO Chris Licht is thought to be attempting to “tamp down spectacle” and restore the network’s credibility. If anyone brought spectacle to CNN, it was Toobin.

The legal pundit was famously caught masturbating during a 2020 Zoom meeting with his New Yorker colleagues and subsequently fired by the magazine. CNN, however, did not dismiss him and granted him a lengthy leave of absence when the network was still controlled by former president Jeff Zucker – who was forced out himself earlier this year…

“Jeffrey Toobin was almost certainly pushed out,” the industry insider told Fox News Digital.

“You can’t have someone on air like that representing you and only someone with Jeff Zucker’s power— which Chris Licht doesn’t have— could have protected him,” the insider continued. “Look for many, many more cuts to come. CNN is notoriously bloated compared to Fox and MSNBC and Licht could probably halve its size with no noticeable change on air.”