Former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien made serious claims on Saturday that a network executive once told her she could only have the “right kind” of black guests on her show. CNN regularly calls conservatives and the president racist and accuses them of engaging in bigotry on a number of levels. This charge by one of their own black anchors will cast a shadow on the network’s ability to credibly accuse others of what they have been accused of by their own staff.

“This is an interesting read. Reminds me of the CNN exec who told me: ‘Roland Martin isn’t the ‘right kind of’ black person.’ She didn’t want me to book him on my show.” O’Brien tweeted. She added that, according to the network player, New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow, who was a frequent guest on her show, was the “right kind of black.” Roland Martin is a black journalist who has worked for TV One and was at one time a regular guest on a variety of CNN programs.

Charles Blow, she told me, (also a frequent guest) was ‘the right kind of Black’.

— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) June 14, 2020

Go Ad-Free, Get Exclusive Shows and Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“I don’t know how to take this ‘good negro’ talk…” Blow wrote in a tweet.

I don’t know how to take this “good negro” talk… https://t.co/WKdWSZCWoy

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) June 14, 2020

Roland Martin also spoke out, tweeting “the internal s— I had to encounter at CNN would blow folks away,” telling Blow, “the s— said about me by certain people there behind closed doors…”

Go Ad-Free, Get Exclusive Shows and Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

O’Brien, who left CNN in 2013 after 10 years, was responding to a report from Huffington Post‘s Yashar Ali that reports accusations against Barbara Fedida, head of ABC News talent, and her treatment of black journalists at the network.

Among the charges are that in 2018, during a heated meeting about renewing “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts’ contract, Fedida reportedly “asked what more Roberts could want and said it wasn’t as if the network was asking Roberts to ‘pick cotton.'” ABC News has also been known to allege racism on the part of conservatives and the president. Fedida supposedly said about then-ABC News journalist Kendis Gibson, a black anchor, that ABC “spends more on toilet paper than we ever would on him.”

“To say that she’s an abusive figure is an understatement,” a former ABC News staffer told the Huffington Post. ABC News has issued a statement on the matter: “There are deeply disturbing allegations in this story that we need to investigate, and we have placed Barbara Fedida on administrative leave while we conduct a thorough and complete investigation. These allegations do not represent the values and culture of ABC News, where we strive to make everyone feel respected in a thriving, diverse and inclusive workplace.”

Fedida responded, “Throughout my career, I have been a champion for increased diversity in network news. Building a news division where everyone can thrive has been my life’s mission. I am proud of my decades of work of hiring, supporting and promoting talented journalists of color. And, unlike these heartbreaking and incredibly misleading claims about me, that track record is well-documented and undeniable.” But Huffington Post stands by its reporting.

This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on June 15, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
‘American Patriots’ bikers plan to retake Seattle’s ‘CHAZ’ and boot anarchists—you’re invited
Truckers refuse delivering consumer goods in cities declaring to ‘defund the police’
Seattle police chief reveals rapes and robberies are happening in the CHAZ, cops aren’t able to respond

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of DrewBerquist.com. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.