break it/the news to someone idiom
C2 把不好的消息告诉…
to tell someone about something unpleasant that will affect or upset them
Come on, what happened? Break it to me gently (= in a kind way). 究竟发生了什么事？好好地告诉我吧。
I didn't want to be the one to break the news to him. 我可不想把这种消息告诉他。