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 mistakeswill leave 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.
Following the article in The Atlantic, Licht he apologized employees 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 having distracted himself from the work of the newsroom.
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.
“We have great confidence in this group and will fully support them until a new CEO is named,” Zazlav said in a statement emailed to CNN staff. “We are in good hands, which allows us to take the time we need to conduct a thoughtful and thorough search for a new leader.”
Licht’s short and difficult tenure as network boss came after he found great success in morning news, producing MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” before revamping “CBS Sunday Morning.” Prior to joining CNN, Licht was the executive producer of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” leading the program as it became the highest-rated late-night program on television.
But at CNN, Licht stumbled and quickly faced criticism. Replacing Jeff Zucker, the former CNN leader beloved by staff, Licht’s first action at the network was to dismantle CNN+, which had been hailed by the network’s previous leader as the future of CNN streaming . Zucker was fired in February 2022 for failing to disclose a relationship with a subordinate.
Unlike Zucker, who occupied an office in a newsroom at CNN’s Hudson Yards office in New York, Licht separated himself from the network’s reporters, a move that isolated his chief of staff.
Licht announced mass layoffs at CNN in December. But the town hall with former President Donald Trump last month that Licht orchestrated was widely criticized as a mistake. Licht faced a fury of internal and external critics for the town hall, including iconic anchor Christiane Amanpour during a Columbia Journalism School commencement speech.
