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Anchor Management: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson pictured at “In Conversation With David Remnick: Original Sin” on May 27, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal # 551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!
CNN’s Jake Tapper has written multiple books and has used his perch at the network to promote them heavily. In tonight's edition, we reveal a policy change at CNN around the promotion of books that has angered Tapper and put him on a collision course with CEO Mark Thompson.
Also tonight, reporters covering the never-ending Jeffrey Epstein story secure lucrative book deals, a chance encounter with Michael Wolff, and a scene report from New York Magazine’s fashion week shindig.
Finally, it’s Tuesday, which means Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie is back with his latest media industry Hot Sauce. Tonight, his thoughts on why big names continue to start newsletters – and how they help them shape the narrative.
Mentioned tonight: Mark Thompson, Virginia Moseley, Jeff Zucker, Stephen Colbert, Adam Baidawi, Savannah Guthrie, Nicholas Thompson, Risa Heller, Michael Wolff, Barry Diller, Joanna Stern, Anna Palmer, Oliver Darcy, Maxi Tani, Natalie Korach, Corbin Bolies, Mark Stenberg, David Haskell, Erik Maza, Pam Wasserstein, Michael Pescuma, Lauren Starke, Katie Robertson, David Greene, Freddie Sayers, Janine Gibson, Jake Kanter, Katie Deighton, Joe Flint, Charlotte Tobitt, Paula Froelich, Walt Bogdanich, Carson Kessler, William Dedman, Pam Belluck, Khadeeja Safdar, Joe Palazzolo, David Enrich, Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Steve Eder, Matthew Goldstein, and more.
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
(Exclusive.) Jake Tapper is a lover of literature. After all, CNN's “The Lead” anchor has written eight books. Last year, he released “Original Sin”, which he co-authored with Axios journalist Alex Thompson.
You may have heard about it on CNN, which was turned into a rolling infomercial for the book, much to the chagrin of Tapper’s colleagues.
We reported last summer that CNN staffers were questioning the merit of airing anonymously sourced claims from Tapper and Thompson’s book about Joe Biden on the air. Particularly as very little of the book was fact-checked prior to publication.
Now, Breaker has learned that on February 4th, CNN issued …
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Epstein, Inc: A Tale of Two Newsrooms
(Exclusive.) The competition for Epstein scoops has been rife between The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The Journal got out in front with their birthday card doodle exclusive from gun reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo last July.
Not to be outdone, the Times mobilized a crack team headed up by deputy investigations editor David Enrich and comprised of Investigative Reporters Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Steve Eder, as well as Business Reporter Matthew Goldstein.
Now there will be two competing Epstein books from the opposite teams.
Breaker has learnt Enrich is writing…