Jim Acosta May Quit CNN in Protest of Graveyard Shift Move: Report

Kelli Boyle January 23, 2025, 12:33 pm

Anchor and journalist Jim Acosta on CNN — CNN

CNN anchor Jim Acosta is reportedly threatening to quit the network entirely rather than accept a move to the graveyard shift. The journalist, who currently appears at CNN’s 10 a.m. ET hour, was reportedly pitched a move to the “graveyard shift” (midnight to 2 a.m. ET) by CNN Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Thompson in a January 15 phone call.

Acosta has been a fixture on CNN since 2007 but became known for his fiery critical coverage as the network’s Chief White House correspondent during President Donald Trump‘s first term. Now he could be on the outs, according to a report from The Los Angeles Times. The phone call was first reported by former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter. Two people familiar with the ongoing talks confirmed the discussions to LA Times. Acosta and a CNN representative declined to comment for LA Times‘ report. One anonymous source told Fox News Digital that Acosta is “getting hosed” by the network.

Acosta has reportedly not yet made his decision about the offer, but he could stay in his home of Washington, D.C. if he took the graveyard shift instead of moving out to Los Angeles. Asking Acosta to move from the morning shift with its higher viewership to the late-night spot that gets less viewers could be interpreted as a capitulation to the whims of President Trump.

“Acosta is a talented broadcaster who could handle any slot on the network,” a CNN staffer told Fox News Digital. “The midnight thing is shocking [but] it is what it is.”

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This wouldn’t be the only shocking schedule change Thompson has carried out in recent weeks. CNN staple Wolf Blitzer and his Situation Room program is reportedly moving from its 6-7 p.m. ET evening slot to daytime.

Darcy wrote in the original Status report that “Thompson, I’m told, delivered the veteran journalist a sudden and strange proposal: Move your show to midnight and anchor it until 2 a.m. ET,” per Mediaite.com. Acosta was reportedly shocked by the request as “he had no reason to believe that his current show would be on the chopping block.”

Acosta was allegedly told that the potential move “had nothing to do with his ratings or the editorial style of his show,” but rather was a part of a plan to rearrange the CNN daytime schedule. Thompson reportedly “pitched the graveyard shift as if it were something of a promotion for Acosta,” Darcy reported.