Jim Acosta Exits CNN, Launches New Show on Substack (Updated)

Longtime CNN anchor Jim Acosta is exiting the network. His departure follows an extensive programming reshuffle that would have seen him moving from the 10 a.m. ET time slot to midnight.

Acosta announced his departure at the end of his Tuesday broadcast, thanking his co-workers and offering some parting words for his viewers. “It’s never a good time to bow down to a tyrant,” he remarked, adding: “Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth – and to hope.”

In a statement provided to TVNewser, a CNN spokesperson praised Acosta for his “long, distinguished” career at the network. “[He] has a track record of standing up to authority, for the first amendment and for our journalistic freedoms. We want to thank him for the dedication and commitment he’s brought to his reporting and wish him the very best in the future.”

“I’ve decided to move on” from CNN, @Acosta says, while expressing gratitude to the network and its viewers.

Some parting words: “Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth – and to hope.” pic.twitter.com/3OdyLTCGN8

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 28, 2025

That future will apparently involve a new show on Substack. Later on Tuesday afternoon, Acosta announced that The Jim Acosta Show would be coming to the platform soon. “Welcome to my new venture,” he said in an introductory video. “I’m going independent, at least for now.”

“I wanted to invite you to join me here on this platform as we talk about the day’s news, talk about politics and so on,” Acosta added, previewing what his Substack show might look like.

Oliver Darcy first reported Acosta’s decision to exit CNN in his Status newsletter. CNN’s Brian Stelter also included news of the departure in his Reliable Sources newsletter, citing sources close to the matter.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that Acosta would inform viewers of his departure on Tuesday’s newscast. The anchor teased that exit statement in his own post on X, formerly Twitter.

Last week, CNN announced that it was cutting 6% of its workforce—roughly 200 employees—as part of its pivot from a linear to digital product. Those layoffs primarily impacted roles on the production side, where the network is seeking to lower costs. CNN also announced that it will be looking to fill 100 new roles on the digital side of the business.

“The changes we’re announcing today are part of an ongoing response by this great news organization to profound and irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news,” CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson wrote in a memo to staff provided to TVNewser. “It isn’t and can’t be a single set of changes but a process of investment, experimentation and adaptation that will last years.”

While CNN’s on-air talent largely remained in place following the cuts, Acosta’s role was up in the air. He has been anchoring the 10 a.m. hour of CNN Newsroom since February 2024 when the network shook up its morning lineup.

Acosta joined CNN in 2007 from CBS News, rising through the ranks to become a national political correspondent and then chief White House correspondent. He moved into the anchor’s chair in 2021 as a weekend CNN Newsroom anchor.

But Acosta is perhaps most famous for his combative exchanges with President Donald Trump and other officials during the first Trump administration. At a 2017 press conference, the president notably declined to answer Acosta’s questions, calling CNN “fake news.”

That same year, Acosta compared Trump’s White House to “bad reality television,” adding: “I don’t know what world we’re living in… where we’re standing at the White House, and they bring us into the briefing room, and they won’t answer these questions on camera or let us record the audio.”

Trump himself commented on Acosta’s CNN departure on his Truth Social account, calling him the “one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history.” Acosta issued his own social media response writing: “Looks like somebody has ADS: Acosta Derangement Syndrome.”

With Trump’s return to the Oval Office, CNN has reportedly sought to alter that previously combative tone. Many media watchers noted that the network’s Inauguration Day coverage appeared to mute criticisms of the president.

But Acosta still posed tough questions to Republican lawmakers. His contentious Jan. 22 interview with Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee about Trump’s decision to pardon thousands of Jan. 6 rioters went viral. “This is not Fox, congressman. You can’t just spin a tale and pull the wool over people’s eyes,” he told Burchett at one point.

CNN’s new programming lineup begins in March and replaces CNN Newsroom with a two-hour block of The Situation Room, hosted by Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown. Other changes include CNN This Morning anchor Kasie Hunt moving to 4 p.m. and Rahel Solomon hosting a weekday version of the network’s 5 Things franchise at 5 a.m.

—This post has been updated with Acosta’s farewell, CNN’s statement, the announcement of The Jim Acosta Show on Substack, and his response to Donald Trump’s Truth Social post