Rosie O’Donnell Slams David Ellison’s Impending CNN Takeover as a 'Tragic' Move Towards Fox News 

Rosie O’Donnell has publicly condemned David Ellison's pending takeover of CNN through Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

In an interview with Variety, she warned that shifting the legacy news network into Ellison's hands would be a "tragic" corporate consolidation akin to "Fox taking over all news channels.”

The comedian expressed deep concern that right-wing ideological influences would dominate the mainstream media ecosystem if Ellison were to control multiple major networks.

The deal involves Paramount Skydance's sweeping $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.

While the acquisition has cleared significant global regulatory hurdles, it faces internal friction — including high-profile personnel departures amid network uncertainty — as it approaches full implementation.

O'Donnell pointed to recent editorial shifts at CBS News and 60 Minutes — which she blamed on Ellison and right-leaning media figure Bari Weiss — claiming they "blew up" the gold standard of network news.

“It would be like Fox taking over all news channels. Imagine if Fox was not one outlier and Fox was the mainstay? That’s what’s happening with Hollywood now, and the Ellisons, and it’s tragic,” O’Donnell said.

Regarding Weiss’ “right-wing makeover of CBS News,” the former The View host didn’t hold back.

“Look at what’s happened to CBS News and 60 Minutes, which was the gold star of their entire network, and they blew it up,” she said. “This Bari Weiss person, I don’t know how she can live with herself. There are people who are sidling up to him, and history will record all of their names, what they did, and who they stood next to.”

“If you’re in a room with 10 Nazis, at a table, and you’re the only one who’s not, there’s a pretty good chance you’re a Nazi,” she added.

CBS News ratings have declined significantly across all major programming blocks under Weiss. The ratings collapse has extended far past Sunday nights, dragging down CBS' morning and evening programs into historically low territory.

Her comments coincided with her appearance as a guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live! during the week of August 17.

The comic said she took the hosting gig because she wants to “support the late-night community amid Trump’s war on TV comedy.”

“I support [Kimmel] in what he’s doing with the First Amendment, and our ability as entertainers and citizens to speak out against our government that’s enshrined in the Founding Fathers’ writings about our government, so I think he’s fantastic," explained O’Donnell. “And I wish that Stephen Colbert had the same kind of support when it happened to him, because he shouldn’t be gone eithe."