Chloe Elizabeth Melas is an American journalist currently serving as an entertainment reporter for CNN. She was previously the senior entertainment reporter for Hollywood Life and the host of VH1's morning TV show The Gossip Table.
Education
Melas graduated from Auburn University in 2008 with a degree in radio, television and film.
Journalism career
Melas began her career at CNN as a news assistant. She left in 2009 after meeting editor Bonnie Fuller, helping her launch Hollywood Life. Melas eventually became the site's senior entertainment reporter. In 2010, she hosted her own weekend entertainment segment on New York City's WNYW television station. In 2011, she also became the host of Penske Media Corporation's ENTV, where she filmed spots for ION, Yahoo!, and Vodafone. In 2013, Melas became one of the hosts of VH1's morning showThe Gossip Table. The show ran for four seasons until it was cancelled in September 2015. In 2014, Melas joined the New York City television station WPIX as its weekly Hot List contributor, where she discussed the biggest entertainment news of the week every Friday morning. Melas has been a contributor on Fox & Friends, HLN, The Wendy Williams Show, The Insider, The Today Show, and elsewhere. In 2015, Melas became the brand ambassador for women's clothing line Maggy London.
In 2017, Melas covered a publicity event for the film Going in Style, starring Morgan Freeman. Melas, who was pregnant at the time, said that Freeman made several inappropriate remarks to her. Melas reported the incident to CNN, which then informed Warner Brothers, a division of Time Warner. Time Warner did not take any action on the report because it could not corroborate Melas' account. Melas "heard rumblings about Mr. Freeman's behavior with other women" and decided to pursue leads on the story. On May 24, 2018, Melas and CNN media and entertainment deputy editor An Phung published an article reporting that eight individuals "said they were victims of what some called harassment and others called inappropriate behavior by Freeman." Freeman responded in a statement the same day, saying, "Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent." He added the following day, "I would often try to joke with and compliment women, in what I thought was a light-hearted and humorous way. Clearly I was not always coming across the way I intended." Following continued widespread news coverage, Freeman's attorney wrote to CNN president Jeff Zucker asking for a retraction and an apology. CNN stood by its reporting, saying in a statement the network would "respond forcefully to any attempt by Mr. Freeman or his representatives to intimidate us from covering this important public issue." Melas received death threats in the wake of her reporting on Freeman.
