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The magazine The Industry Standard reports CNN may be backing away from its decision to hire Thompson as a newsreader after stills from her 15 years as an actress started circulating via the Internet.
Although she had minimal journalism skills, Thompson has starred in "Baywatch," "JAG," "Silk Stalkings" and HBO's "Arli$$" -- and a quick Web search Friday yielded topless video stills taken from the latter show.
Most troubling for CNN, according to The Industry Standard, were full-frontal nudes of Thompson apparently taken from a 1986 Italian film called "Manhattan Gigolo."
The magazine quoted a CNN official who said Thompson, 41, did not inform the network of the material's existence. CNN's parent company, Turner Networks, has employees sign a "morals clause," which even prohibits them from smoking.
"We accept Andrea's explanation regarding the photos in question," a CNN representative told Inside.com.
"We hired her as an anchor for Headline News, and we feel she is a promising journalist."
Added Thompson in her own statement: "(I) did pose for Black And White magazine, a prestigious artistic publication, several years ago. I did this as a piece of art and make no apologies for the decision I've made as an artist in my 20-year career."
The job of news anchor at a major news organization is typically reserved for seasoned news veterans, and the appointment of Thompson -- who has one year of reporting at a small New Mexico station to her name -- was widely criticized in the news industry.
The Industry Standard said Thompson was to relocate to Atlanta to begin part-time work at the revamped Headline News network and as a national correspondent.
Some observers expected that the search for a new anchor would send CNN after an established journalist in league with NBC's Tom Brokaw or ABC's Peter Jennings, the report said.
Her hiring came on the heels of layoffs that threw 400 of the network's 4,000 employees out of work. While CNN enjoyed record profits last year, viewership has begun to fall, The Industry Standard reported.
Meanwhile, Inside.com reports that some CNN employees have created their own website, TedTurnovers.com, featuring inside info on the network's operations, parodies of CNN's attempts to garner younger viewers, and links to sites with nude photos of Thompson.
The site receives information from more than 100 ex-CNN staffers, Inside.com said.
"We were asked to leave within an hour of hearing the news, which resulted in a mad scramble," the site's creator told Inside.com.
"Add to the mix armed guards at the ready and it was a pitiful experience for quite a number of people. It wasn't so much the news, as being handed a cardboard box by a (human resources) stooge and being asked to clear out post-haste. Clearly there was not much time for heartfelt goodbyes."
Among the inside info spilled at the site are details of the internal debate over whether to report leaked results of "Survivor: The Australian Outback." (More on NYPD Blue)