Twitter Slams CNN's Dylan Byers For 'Drain Of Talent' Comment

CNN’s reporter Dylan Byers came under fire on Twitter on Tuesday after he posted a tweet saying there was a “drain of talent” from entertainment and media industries after numerous reports of sexual harassment emerged against Hollywood and media bigwigs in the past few weeks.

Although Byers took down the tweet sometime later, Twitterati was not happy and demanded a clarification on what his intended observation was.

Byers posted the controversial tweet late Tuesday in which he said even though pain and humiliation women endured — because of the men who allegedly sexually assaulted them — was the “paramount issue,” “it’s worth taking stock of the incredible drain of talent from media/entertainment taking place right now.”

He then seemed to regret the tweet and posted a second one saying it was “poorly worded” and did not convey his “intended observation” properly.

Many journalists and other users alike called out Byers and posted angry comments.

CNN Money Video Producer Abigail Brook replied to Byers and told him “we can find some suitable replacements.”

Another CNN reporter, Selena Larson, replied to Brook’s tweet and said: “Also worth considering the drain of talent of all women who left the industry because of harassment and abuse.”

Other journalists also posted similar tweets slamming Byers.

Donald Trump Jr. also quoted Byers' tweet and said:

Meanwhile, some users rose to the defense of Byers and attempted to clarify what he meant to say.

“It's pretty damn obvious. There are lots of talented people being purged from entertainment based on non-equivalent crimes,” one user tweeted.

Meanwhile, an unknown person made edits to Byers’ Wikipedia page and changed a line in the first paragraph to “an American journalist and proponent of sexual assault if it interferes with his entertainment.”

However, Wikipedia seemed to have deleted the additions soon after they were posted. Screenshots of the page after it was edited continued to circulate on social media.

Byers was previously accused of being sexist for writing a critical article titled “Turbulence at The Times,” which was about the former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson. In the piece, he quoted several anonymous staffers saying she was a difficult person to work with. Many questioned whether the story would have been written if Abramson was a man.

Commenting on the article, Emily Bell wrote for the Guardian and said: “The lame nature of the reporting suggests it might be better just to ignore the piece entirely, but it deserves attention, as it fuels an exasperating and wholly sexist narrative about women in power.”

“If one redacts 'Jill' from Politico's piece and replaces it with 'Jack', the absurdity and sexism becomes all the more obvious,” she added.

Byers responded to some of the criticism — specifically Bell’s — and stated he “spoke with more than a dozen staffers from across the newsroom, male and female, old and young. They all voiced similar complaints, and said that those complaints were deeply felt and widespread.”