New York
CNN
—
Chris Licht, the executive chairman and president of CNN, whose short year at the network was marred by a series of serious missteps, announced Wednesday that he is leaving the company.
“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” said David Zaslav, chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, to CNN employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial call Wednesday.
Licht’s departure, which came days after a devastating 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic, capped a tumultuous year for CNN, marked by layoffs, historically low ratings and abysmal employee morale.
In the wake of The Atlantic article, Licht apologized to staff on Monday, telling the global news organization in a somber tone that he did not recognize himself when reading parts of the story and that he regretted distracted from the work of writing.
Licht, who described the experience as “tremendously humbling,” vowed to “fight like hell” to earn employees’ trust.
But it became increasingly clear that Licht’s tenure as CEO was quickly coming to an end. Licht has not commented on his departure and did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zaslav said Licht’s job will “never be easy” and praised the “amazing career” he has had, wishing him luck in his future endeavors.
“For various reasons things didn’t work out and that’s unfortunate,” Zaslav said. “It’s really unfortunate. And ultimately that’s on me. And I take full responsibility for it.”
Zaslav told CNN employees that the company is “in the process of conducting an extensive search,” both internally and externally, for a new network chief. He cautioned that “it’s going to take a while.”
Meanwhile, Zazlav said the leadership team will consist of Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent and content development; Virginia Moseley, executive vice president of publishing; and Eric Sherling, executive vice president of US programming. David Leavy, who was recently installed as Chief Operating Officer, will continue to oversee the company’s commercial activities.
