CNN canceled all the shows I was on. They're going in a different direction, but that's their privilege. They own the business.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
We struck an unusual deal. I'll get to leave CNN with my catalog and documentaries. We were able to create a brand at CNN - 'Black in America' - that I now own. I can take that brand and extend it in any way I want.
I love CNN. I love the Cartoon Network. I mean, I thought these things up.
I watch practically no TV - ah, what the hell do I watch? Oh, I was for a long time addicted to CNN.
When I was a publisher of CNN, I took responsibility for the actions of the network.
CNN's problem goes to its very core and to the identity it's sought ever since the rise of Fox News, on its right: CNN is the channel for people who don't want to watch the other channels! That's a stupid strategy.
CNN is a more diverse brand. It's spread out over more products over there.
Television has certain imperatives that CNN had the luxury of ignoring for a long period of time. CNN could take the position that the news would be the star, because in most of the programming day, they were the only all-news operation on the air.
I had a deal with CNN and had no intention of going back to the music business, but you know, it's Lynyrd Skynyrd.
For a long time, my shows were about people walking out or about getting my gigs canceled or having the presenter not wanting to pay me.
Despite my professional experience, the fifteen-hour workdays, and a successful new show that I had helped build, MSNBC was still refusing to pay me what I was worth.