WarnerMedia Chief Executive Jason Kilar was subject to intense criticism during a meeting with CNN employees Wednesday evening, where he was grilled over his decision that CNN President Jeff Zucker should step down after Mr. Kilar learned the network boss had a romantic relationship with CNN’s marketing chief.

During an hourlong meeting with Mr. Kilar, CNN anchors and employees expressed frustration that Mr. Zucker didn’t get a second chance after disclosing his relationship with Ms. Gollust and asked Mr. Kilar why Mr. Zucker...

WarnerMedia Chief Executive Jason Kilar was subject to intense criticism during a meeting with CNN employees Wednesday evening, where he was grilled over his decision that CNN President Jeff Zucker should step down after Mr. Kilar learned the network boss had a romantic relationship with CNN’s marketing chief.

During an hourlong meeting with Mr. Kilar, CNN anchors and employees expressed frustration that Mr. Zucker didn’t get a second chance after disclosing his relationship with Ms. Gollust and asked Mr. Kilar why Mr. Zucker was replaced abruptly. Mr. Kilar declined to answer questions about the timeline of Mr. Zucker’s departure, though he said that he followed a process “with an appropriate sense of urgency.”

“I wasn’t focused on the business of it all,” Mr. Kilar said. He said he was primarily focused “on the values that we stand for as a company.”

Mr. Kilar said there are no plans to issue additional information about the investigation, which he said is complete.

Many of the executives and anchors Mr. Kilar addressed at CNN’s offices in Washington, D.C., were hired and promoted by Mr. Zucker, and some are loyal to him, according to people familiar with the matter.

In the wake of Mr. Zucker’s departure, many CNN executives, anchors and employees said in interviews with The Wall Street Journal that his exit would leave a hole at the network.

During the question-and-answer session, anchor Jake Tapper said that former CNN host Chris Cuomo hired a lawyer who seemed eager to leak damaging information about Mr. Zucker unless they gave Mr. Cuomo severance.

“An outside observer might say, ‘Well, it looks like Chris Cuomo succeeded,’ ” Mr. Tapper said. “He threatened Jeff. Jeff said we don’t negotiate with terrorists. And Chris blew the place up. How do we get past that perception that this is the bad guy winning?”

A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo declined to comment. A spokeswoman for WarnerMedia said that the division doesn’t comment on personnel investigations.

Mr. Zucker, who is 56 years old, disclosed the relationship with Ms. Gollust in recent days during an investigation into Mr. Cuomo.

Mr. Cuomo was fired by CNN in December after the investigation found he improperly helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, respond to accusations of sexual misconduct.

In the past week, Mr. Kilar learned that Mr. Zucker disclosed the relationship as part of the investigation and quickly decided Mr. Zucker should step down, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Zucker then submitted his resignation, they said.

Write to Benjamin Mullin at Benjamin.Mullin@wsj.com