As the Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros. Discovery merger inches closer to becoming a reality, major changes are expected to unfold across brands belonging to both companies. The Warner-owned CNN is one of the most notable corporations that could be heavily affected due to the possibility of CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss potentially running it post-merger. Per reports, this prospect has been met with mixed-to-negative reception by current employees and, now, a former CNN host is sharing blunt thoughts. W. Kamau Bell is arguably best known for his work as a comedian, but he also hosted CNN’s United Shades of America for seven seasons between 2016 and 2022. Due to his link to the network, Bell was recently asked for his take on Weiss possibly handling operations at some point in the future. While speaking with The Daily Beast’s Obsessed podcast, Bell was civil when addressing his colleagues who still work at the network but, when it came to Weiss, he expressed discomfort over the thought of her being the boss:I do think that there are a lot of good, decent people who work there whose jobs are going to be made harder by Bari Weiss. Because let’s be clear, they’re not giving Bari Weiss that job because she’s done such a good job at CBS News.(Image credit: Who's With Me?)Weiss was installed as the head of CBS’ news branch in October 2025 by Paramount CEO David Ellison. Since her tenure began, Weiss has been criticized for her editorial decisions, with a number of people accusing her of exuding news bias. This past December, Weiss notably made headlines when she decided to drop a 60 Minutes story at the last minute. She later defended her decision, saying that the story – which focused on the U.S. reportedly sending immigrants to a prison in El Salvador – needed more work.Aside from dealing with claims of partiality, Weiss has also received blowback for changes she’s made to 60 Minutes by firing correspondents and parting ways with producers. Reports also allege that morale at CBS has been low as of late and that Weiss’ work practices are disliked. Since-fired journalist Scott Pelley has criticized Weiss’ handling of the show and CBS News as a whole. Bell is also of the opinion that Weiss has done “damage” to the brand and, in making his point, he even mentioned the cancellation of The Late Show:The damage she's done to CBS news and then the damage that CBS has done by canceling [Stephen] Colbert and giving it to Byron Allen has hurt [CBS Mornings], because people they're certain like — it's the funny thing that people just leave their TVs on, whatever they turn off at night is what they turn on the morning, people who still have TVs like that. And, now they're not watching Colbert at night, and they're not watching Comics Unleashed. So, by the time the morning comes along, their TVs are not on the CBS morning show. And the morning show is supposed to be the moneymaker. So Barri Weiss and people who work in CBS have actually hurt their money-making show.Given that rationale, Bell believes this situation isn’t so much about money but about “power.” What should be mentioned, though, is that David Ellison hasn’t given any indication as to whether Weiss will actually be put in charge of CNN once the merger is complete. Still, Bell feels “bad” for his co-workers that still work at CNN and does not believe Weiss will “restore more trust” between the network and its viewers. Although it remains to be seen whether Bari Weiss will take charge of CNN, it’s clear that W. Kamau Bell has no interest in working with her. The Totally Biased creator went on to say that he has fans who continue to ask if he’ll ever return to the network. Now, Bell says that with Weiss possibly taking over, “that chance, which was already small, is now absolutely dead.”