On a recent episode of Channel 5, host Andrew Callaghan revealed that he broke a nondisclosure agreement to describe how CNN abruptly ended his press tour after a tense on-air exchange with anchor Don Lemon.
Callaghan had been scheduled to appear on CNN to promote an HBO documentary examining media echo chambers and the dynamics of the 24-hour news cycle. However, he said the experience took an unexpected turn before he even stepped into the studio, beginning with a mandatory media training session that left him uneasy.
“They had to give me this weird media training session, and it was like these 16 people I had never met before,” Callaghan said. “More people on a Zoom call than I thought you could ever even have. I had to get Zoom premium. All these people in suits going through point for point being like, you need to tell, if they ask you about Trump say this, if they ask you about revolution say this, if they ask you about your background say this. Don’t reveal that you’re arrested for graffiti.”
He acknowledged that speaking publicly about the experience could violate his agreement with the network, but made it clear he intended to proceed anyway. “I signed an NDA, but I’m going to break it anyway,” he said.
According to Callaghan, the situation escalated once the interview began. Rather than discussing the documentary, Lemon immediately shifted the conversation toward Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and the events surrounding January 6.
“I get on and he goes, ‘What can you tell us about the mental state of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio in the leadup to January 6th?'” Callaghan recalled. He explained that he had previously embedded himself with the group as part of his reporting, and that disclosing sensitive information carried personal risks. “I had embedded myself in this men’s group, the Proud Boys, for a long time, and I still had those active relationships. Revealing any information could put my life in danger. I just wasn’t ready for it.”
Instead of answering the question directly, Callaghan said he pushed back on air and redirected the conversation toward the themes of his film.
“I clapped back super hard and I was like, ‘Actually Don, the film is about how the mainstream media, including CNN, uses the cable news system to push partisan divisions that have led to events like January 6th by essentially pitting working-class Americans against each other and pushing culture war over class war issues,'” he said. “And he was like, ‘What the h*ll?’ They cut the segment short. It was never aired.”
The fallout continued backstage, where Callaghan said a representative from production company A24 reacted with alarm after the segment ended abruptly. “She was like, ‘Time Warner C-suite is furious,'” he said.
Callaghan explained that he had not realized at the time that HBO and CNN shared the same corporate parent company, a detail that transformed the confrontation into what executives viewed as an internal dispute.
“They looked at it as like an in-house beef,” he said. “And I was like, ‘No, no, no. I was just projecting my opinion.’ And they were like, ‘Don’t you remember the media training? You weren’t supposed to do that.’ She was panicked. They canceled my press tour right then and there.”
He added that his final scheduled media appearance, an interview with NPR, also turned confrontational and was ultimately never broadcast. “How do you think the Sandy Hook families would feel about you fraternizing with Alex Jones, one of the most despicable people on the face of the planet?” the interviewer asked, according to Callaghan.
Reflecting on the experience, Callaghan closed with a critique of how major media institutions operate and coordinate narratives.
“I always wondered, all of these organizations that are technically disconnected, like NPR isn’t necessarily connected directly to Time Warner C-suite, but they seem to have some sort of high-up corporate meeting where they decide who is going to be made to be a hero and who’s going to be made to be a villain, who’s going to be amplified, who’s going to be stamped down,” he said. “And they have preferential treatment for those who really walk the line and don’t rock the boat.”
