CNN —Variety is facing a blistering wave of backlash. “Siegel was informed by The Atlantic that the charges were completely false, but she nevertheless decided to smear Alberta. Jon Kelly, editor in chief of Puck, similarly defended his reporter, who was portrayed in the piece as a Zucker shill. Reached for comment, a Variety spokesperson notably offered a defense of the piece that contained far less fervor. The spokesperson simply said, “Variety stands by our investigative story about CNN written by one of the best journalists in the business.”

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Persons: Tatiana Siegel, Jeff Zucker, Zucker, —, Risa Heller, Heller, ” Heller, Chris Licht, Tim Alberta, Dylan Byers, Puck, ” Jeffrey Goldberg, “ Siegel, Siegel, ” Goldberg, Licht, “, Jon Kelly, “ Dylan Byers, ” Kelly, ” Organizations: CNN, Variety, Hollywood, Warner Bros, The, The Atlantic, Alberta Locations: Alberta, Alberta’s