CNN staff ‘grossed out’ as ‘overpaid’ Kaitlan Collins buys vacation home on luxury island getaway

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: To enjoy her summer surrounded by the likes of Tommy Hilfiger and Dave Portnoy, CNN star Kaitlan Collins has reportedly purchased a 'very expensive' house in Nantucket, a celebrity favourite luxurious getaway.

While the chief White House correspondent is no doubt thrilled with her pricey new perch, her colleagues, back at the embattled network, are not quite eager to join the celebration.

CNN staffers livid over Kaitlan Collins’ luxurious purchase

According to sources, the CNN staff is quite furious over Kaitlan Collins buying an expensive vacation home amid the network turmoil.

“She just bought some bougie place and CNN people are grossed out that she paid so much,” an anonymous source told Page Six.

They also blasted the CNN host as 'way overpaid' and stated the property was ‘very expensive', but they did not disclose the price or how they found out.

However, according to the Daily Mail, the average home price on the ritzy Massachusetts island was approximately $4.5 million in May 2025.

Another CNN source defended Collins by pointing out that she works for the network in two capacities: as the host of her primetime program, 'The Source with Kaitlan Collins', and as its chief White House correspondent.

The fear among the cut-struck CNN staffer

The turmoil over Kaitlan Collins' lavish new island getaway came as the new CEO, Mark Thompson, collapsed the network’s three newsrooms into one to cut overheads and had several rounds of layoffs. Approximately 200 jobs were also slashed in a reorganization in January of this year.

Earlier this year, media insiders also warned that Warner Bros Discovery's shocking split into two distinct companies is a sign that CNN's top talent's jobs and high wages are at risk.

The two new companies will be called Streaming & Studios and Global Networks. The first will house the glitzy Hollywood arm — Warner Bros Television, Motion Pictures, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max. The second will be a more buttoned-up, news-centric outfit that will include CNN alongside TNT Sports, Discovery, and a few others.

A former CNN reporter, Dylan Byers, claimed that the dramatic move could be detrimental to CNN, which is already grappling with plummeting ratings.

“Inevitably, Gunnar will look at CNN and decide he can maintain relatively similar profits at a mere fraction of the cost,” Byers wrote in an opinion piece.

“This will have perceptible ramifications on the talent side. Why, for instance, would Gunnar pay Anderson Cooper $18 million a year when Kaitlan Collins draws the same ratings at roughly a fifth of the salary?” he further added.

A source familiar with the state of CNN told Fox News that CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, who will become the President of Global Networks, will go after high-salaried stars at the network.

“It’s not just the overpriced talent. It’s the overpriced producers. The overpriced executives. The superfluous reporters who barely are on the air,” the tipster stated before adding “All will either be exited or forced to take massive pay cuts.”