Some of CNN's anchors and hosts wanted left-wing legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin back on the airwaves in spite of his embarrassing Zoom transgression last year, according to a report.
CNN's media team reported Thursday that Toobin, who was put on leave by CNN after he was caught masturbating during an October Zoom call with colleagues at The New Yorker, was sought because he was "a leading legal voice on television for decades."
A CNN source confirmed to Fox News the report that some anchors and hosts desired his return to the airwaves.
Toobin has been with CNN since 2002 and is a reliably liberal voice on the network. He fretted in 2018 that Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement from the Supreme Court would lead to abortion being legalized in 20 states by 2020, which did not come to fruition. He called last year for Democrats to take extreme measures like packing the Supreme Court if Republicans successfully confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
In 2019, he apologized on the air for talking about Hillary Clinton's emails too much during the 2016 campaign, worrying he had contributed to her electoral defeat.
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That wasn't his latest on-air mea culpa though.
Toobin returned to the network on Thursday in an awkward interview with anchor Alisyn Camerota, in which he apologized for accidentally exposing himself to his New Yorker colleagues, called his actions "deeply moronic and indefensible," and promised to be a "better person." He said he was "very grateful" to CNN for giving him a second chance, while he called the New Yorker's termination of him excessive.
He also acknowledged that not everyone would see his return in a positive light and he understood what reactions might be, especially on social media.
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"Jeffrey, many of us have really missed having your legal analysis to guide us on our programs, so let me be the first to welcome you back," Camerota said.
Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.